Scarcely a week has gone by since Pedro Sanchez, the Socialist Prime Minister of Spain, chose to recognize the “State of Palestine.” Now the leader of the right-wing opposition, Santiago Abascal, has just paid a visit to Israel, in sign of solidarity with the Jewish state. And from Jerusalem, he has roundly declared that when he is in charge in Madrid, there well be “no prizes for terrorism. No state for Palestine.” More on Abascal’s visit can be found here: “‘No prizes for terror’: Spanish opposition leader Abascal promises,” by Yuval Barnea, Jerusalem Post, May 29, 2024:
Santiago Abascal, leader of far-right Spanish party VOX, landed in Israel on Tuesday night and met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Diaspora Minister Amichai Chikli.
In the mainstream media, the adjective “far-right” is affixed to any European leader who believes in the free market, supports NATO, is favorably disposed to Israel, and — most important of all — wants to end immigration from Muslim states. Geert Wilders of the Netherlands, a centrist in his domestic policies, has. been labelled “far-right” only because he opposes Muslim immigration. The same is true of Marine Le Pen, who is center-right, but labelled “far-right” only because of her alarm about Muslim immigrants in France.
During the meeting, he [Abascal] told Netanyahu there would be “No prizes for terrorism. No state for Palestine.”
He expressed unreserved support for Israel’s war goals: the elimination of Hamas and the return of the hostages.
Abascal’s visit to Israel comes a week after Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced that Spain would recognize “Palestine” as a state….
Sanchez, who has re-established his country’s ties with the Communist dictators of Venezuela and Cuba, is in deep political trouble because of the charges laid against his wife, just last month, of influence peddling and corruption. It has been suggested that in order to deflect attention from his wife’s case Sanchez chose this moment to recognize the “state of Palestine” as a way to turn the public conversation in Spain from domestic to foreign policy.
Nor is his wife the only one in Sanchez’ circle who has been tainted by scandal. His former Transport Minister, José Luis Abalos, resigned from Parliament and the party in February after corruption charges were leveled at his deputy for a fraud scheme during the COVID-19 pandemic. That resignation suggests the charges against his deputy were justified; it might even mean that Abalos himself was involved in the fraud scheme. Between his wife and his former transport minister, Pedro Sanchez is in a world of woe.
Sanchez recognized the state of Palestine, but without calling for Israel’s disappearance. His Deputy Prime Minister, Yolanda Diaz, has no such qualms. With her announcement that “from the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free” she has called for the disappearance of the Jewish state and its replacement by a 23rd Arab one.
During the tour, he criticized Sanchez for being disconnected from reality and the Spanish people, accusing him of acting “out of personal political needs.”
“Any decision he makes that harms the people of Israel will be canceled by me,” Abascal added.’’
That means if Santiago Abascal should become prime minister — his VOX party is now in third place in the polls, but steadily gaining strength because of the growing opposition in the country to Muslim migrants — he would undo Spain’s recognition of a “state of Palestine.” And his outspoken support for Israel suggests that he would vote to support Israel at the UN, and quite possibly, would be prepared to move the Spanish embassy in Israel to Jerusalem.
Could Abascal replace Sanchez? Much will depend on the corruption scandal in which Sanchez’s wife is now involved. If she is found guilty, there may be a vote of no-confidence in Sanchez, and he would be forced to resign, just as happened to his predecessor Mariano Rajoy. The VOX party continues to gain strength, and Abascal himself may be chosen to replace Sanchez. And should that happen, up and down the Land of Israel there would be much mafficking.
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