When Spain rushed Royal Decree 10/2025 into law on September 23, 2025—a sweeping package that took effect the next day—it did more than signal solidarity with a grieving public. It reshaped practical lines of commerce, finance and defense in ways that weaken, not strengthen, regional security.
The decree’s blanket embargo on defense and dual-use exports and its new transit and import controls will choke logistics and compel Israel and its partners to seek more dependable routes and collaborators. That is exactly the opposite of what Europe and the West should be doing at a time of heightened danger.
Reports have surfaced of banks in Spain—most notably Banco Sabadell—asking Israeli clients to sign declarations distancing themselves from settlement commerce.
Madrid’s measures are blunt: an embargo on defense materials and dual-use goods to and from Israel, transit authorizations for such shipments through Spanish territory, bans on transit authorizations for fuels with potential military use bound for Israel, and even an import ban on goods from settlements, enforced by postal-code checks and advertising restrictions.
The immediate operational effect is real—pending authorizations must now meet a new regime, and existing permits can be revoked overnight. That upends predictable supply chains that militaries and humanitarian agencies rely on during crises.
The consequences are already leaking into daily life. Reports have surfaced of banks in Spain—most notably Banco Sabadell—asking Israeli clients to sign declarations distancing themselves from settlement commerce, and in some cases freezing accounts while they sort compliance issues. For businesspeople and families trying to keep payrolls and mortgages moving, that bureaucratic scramble looks less like lawful regulation and more like a politicized risk to livelihoods and cooperation. In short, Spain’s law risks turning ordinary commercial actors into political gatekeepers.
Practical problems demand practical partners. Morocco is that partner. Rabat’s normalization with Israel in December 2020 was not a mere photo op: it created a durable framework for diplomacy, aviation, commerce and security cooperation that has matured since. The U.S.-brokered agreement reopened channels of state-to-state communication and established a baseline of trust that can be leaned on when European routes become unreliable.
Beyond diplomacy, the Morocco-Israel relationship has a tangible defense and intelligence dimension. Since normalization, the two countries have deepened security ties—from intelligence sharing and joint training to procurement of advanced surveillance and defensive systems—moves that materially increase both countries’ ability to respond to asymmetric threats in North Africa and the Sahel. When Spain’s policy narrows Europe’s logistical bandwidth, Morocco’s geographic position and operational cooperation become not a luxury but a necessity.
Spain’s decree may have scored a moment of domestic political theater. But when the next crisis arrives, allies will remember who remained practical and who chose optics over outcomes.
This is not an apology for politics that ignores human suffering. Democracies have a duty to hold to the laws of war and to seek humanitarian relief for civilians. But there is a difference between targeted measures aimed at clear violations and blanket policies that hamstring allied logistics and banking. The former can punish bad actors while protecting innocent commerce; the latter creates secondary harms that adversaries will happily exploit. Spain’s decree, by restricting transit and freezing the normal functioning of supply chains, risks producing more instability, not less.
What should Israel and its partners do?
First, diversify operational channels with pragmatic partners who combine stability and capability—chief among them Morocco. Strengthen intelligence fusion, expand joint readiness exercises, and build interoperable logistics corridors that do not rely on a handful of European ports or banks subject to sudden political whiplash.
Second, press for European approaches that are calibrated: measures that target verified abuses without turning ports, airspace and financial systems into political minefields.
And third, keep the diplomatic door open to allies who can mediate and de-escalate—Morocco’s historical Jewish heritage and regional credibility make it uniquely placed to serve as both bridge and implementer of concrete security measures.
Spain’s decree may have scored a moment of domestic political theater. But when the next crisis arrives, allies will remember who remained practical and who chose optics over outcomes. In that ledger, Morocco’s steadiness and willingness to shoulder operational burdens make it the partner the United States and Israel should be strengthening - not sidelining - at this fraught moment.
