Israeli Ambassador to the US Yechiel Leiter has called out several American Jewish organizations for cosponsoring a recent event with the Spanish government, which has been strongly critical of Israel.

In a letter to the World Jewish Congress, the American Sephardi Federation and the Sephardic Jewish Brotherhood of America, Leiter expressed dismay over the decision to participate in the exhibit on Jewish life under the Spanish Moors, given Madrid’s staunch position against Israeli moves since October 7, 2023, and support for sanctions against the Jewish state.

It marked a rare critique by an Israeli government official of mainstream Jewish organizations, particularly one as prominent and pro-Israel as the WJC.

“As the ambassador of the State of Israel, the nation-state of the Jewish people, I found your partnership in this event both surprising and deeply disappointing given the Spanish government’s ongoing and aggressive campaign against the State of Israel and, increasingly, against the Jewish people more broadly,” Leiter wrote in the missive, which was obtained by The Times of Israel.

The event in question, “The Golden Age of the Jews of Al-Andalus,” was a traveling exhibit hosted on Wednesday by the Spanish Embassy in Washington, highlighting the contributions of Jewish communities in medieval Muslim Spain. Leiter’s complaint came nearly a year after the embassy first hosted the exhibit, which was designed by the Madrid Centro Sefarad-Israel, a government-sponsored center for Jewish culture in the Spanish capital.

The WJC responded by lamenting the manner in which Leiter chose to raise the issue, while standing by the decision to cosponsor the event. The group argued that completely disengaging from the Spanish government would not serve the interests of the country’s Jewish community.

Relations between Spain and Israel have plummeted since Madrid began heavily criticizing Jerusalem over the Gaza war........

© The Times of Israel