Santiago Abascal, the president of Vox, has met with the Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, in Jerusalem on Tuesday, according to the far-right party. Abascal has accused the Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, of covering up his cases of political and economic corruption by recognizing the Palestinian State, a measure adopted on Tuesday. He compared the situation to the “attacks” on the Argentine president, the ultra Javier Milei. The meeting began at 8 PM (one hour earlier in the Peninsula) and lasted for more than an hour. Vox has pledged to Netanyahu, from the Likud party, an ally of the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) to which Vox belongs, that “when Abascal becomes Prime Minister”, Spain will reverse the creation of the State of Palestine, in a move that would be unprecedented in the case of Palestine, although not for the recognition of Israel.
Abascal praised the “firmness of Israel and its people against the aggression and massive pressures from the enemies of the West, as well as from supposed allies who want to leave it defenseless against terrorist attacks”. The Government of Israel has opened a diplomatic crisis with Spain after the formal announcement, reaffirmed on Tuesday, that the country would recognize Palestine as a State, a measure adopted by more than 140 countries. Six days ago, Israel recalled its ambassadors in Madrid, Dublin, and Oslo, the capitals of the last three countries to join that list. In December, Israel did the same after describing as “shameful” remarks by Sánchez in which the president expressed “frank doubts” that the Gaza offensive complied with international humanitarian law. According to Vox’s statement, Netanyahu downplayed alleged requests for support from separatists as retaliation for Sánchez’s actions and also assured that his country will maintain its support and commitment to Europe in the fight against terrorism. Meanwhile, Abascal noted that “as long as there is a single hostage in the hands of Hamas and until the terrorist organization disappears, no one has the right to ask Israel to give up its self-defense operations”.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, stated that the leader of Vox “embraces the policy of lies and falsehoods” of “the most extremist elements of the Netanyahu government”. “He does not have the support of Spanish society,” Albares said in an interview on TVE, adding that Abascal is not “in favor of peace” either. Albares announced that Spain will respond in coordination with Ireland and Norway to the recent messages on social networks from his Israeli counterpart, Israel Katz. They will do so firmly and calmly. “We are not intimidated and we do not let others dictate the pace.” Abascal visited Israel in December to defend the Israeli military offensive in Gaza, which has already resulted in the deaths of over 35,000 people, and demanded that the Spanish president apologize for questioning it. According to the far-right leader, Sánchez should “apologize to the victims and the Israeli people for questioning the legitimate response of a democratic state against killers who murder, torture, and behead civilians in their homes; violate and kidnap women; kidnap children and the elderly; and use their own civilian population as human shields”.
The far-right party has received support from the Likud, which won the Israeli legislative elections last April. In that month, a representative of Netanyahu’s party wished a “great result” for Vox and personally for its leader, Santiago Abascal. Eli Hazan, director of international relations, expressed his support for the Spanish far-right through the social network X on April 27, although the tweet was later deleted due to the backlash it caused on social media.
