When analyzing Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez in the international arena, it is important to recognize that his words and actions do not represent the sentiments of the Spanish people, especially regarding the Israel-Hamas war.
Sánchez did not win the last elections in Spain. He formed a government thanks to what the Spanish press dubbed the “Frankenstein coalition,” a parliamentary alliance that includes communists (financed by the Islamic Republic of Iran), members of terrorist organizations, and Basque and Catalan separatist parties working to break the Spanish constitutional order.
His recent statement on the recognition of a “Palestinian state” by the summer of 2024 has nothing to do with Spain’s interests, nor does it respond to popular Spanish demand. If he goes through with it, Sanchez’s decision will reward Hamas and the Palestinians for the October 7th Massacre, the largest slaughter of Jews in a single day since the Holocaust.
Why would Pedro Sanchez reward terrorism? I think for two reasons: the need to distract the local public opinion from his government’s corruption scandals, while mobilizing his most activist supporters, and the ideological shift of Sanchez’s Socialist Party towards extremism and communism, in line with his antisemitic political partners.
Pedro Sánchez is known in Spain as an immoral character and a compulsive liar: there is no promise he hasn’t broken, as he does the opposite of what he says. He embodies the model of the unscrupulous leader - a politician who doesn’t care about the legality of the means to achieve his ends.
While Hamas was massacring Israelis on October 7th, Sánchez’s ministers supported the terrorist offensive with calls for a “Free Palestine.” Shortly after, former minister Ione Belarra urged Spain to break diplomatic relations with Israel and called for Prime Minister Netanyahu to be tried by the International Criminal Court as a “war criminal.” Communist vice-president Yolanda Díaz referred to the actions of the Israeli Defense Forces in response to Hamas’ carnage as war crimes, with no lament for the pogrom. Sánchez suggested that Israel’s actions were illegal and demanded a “two-state solution” during a visit with the relatives of the Israeli hostages.
Sanchez refused to freeze Spanish taxpayer funds to UNRWA even after undeniable evidence of its involvement in Hamas’ crimes and even increased the donations. He also maintains the Palestinian Authority’s “pay for slay” program to provide financial support to families of Palestinian terrorists.
A Local Failure
Domestically, Sánchez is destroying the institutions of Spanish democracy like a Latin American populist. He amplifies the typical antisemitic lies of the European press, using Israel’s tragedy to benefit his despicable domestic purpose. His government’s strategy is confrontation, and if the well-being of Spanish Jews suffers because of it, he gladly offers them up as bait. With this attitude, Sánchez has become the most obvious pawn of Iran in Europe and a fundamental ally of Qatar’s destabilizing strategy.
Due to this bias, Spain now lacks credibility for any future role in mediation that it has enjoyed since the Madrid Conference of 1991. Spain will pay the price for being applauded by the most destabilizing and anti-democratic sectors, both domestically and internationally.
Spain is Israel’s Friend, Despite Sanchez’s Provocations
And still, Israel has many friends in Spain. Fourteen of the seventeen Autonomous Communities of Spain, which have very broad powers, are favorable to Israel (notably, the capital region of Madrid). The three unfriendly exceptions are Catalonia, the Basque Country, and Asturias.
The Sánchez government is weak; it hasn’t been able to pass state budgets and could fall at any moment. Sánchez’s confrontation with Israel further erodes his credibility and mobilizes a major part of Spanish society that is “neutral” about the Middle East but sympathizes with those willing to publicly expose Sanchez’s extremism.
Those of us who are both Spanish patriots and active Zionists fear that Sánchez’s actions may irreparably damage the relationship between two countries meant to be allies. Sánchez is a provocative opportunist trying to leverage this rush to escape his serious domestic problems by presenting himself as the international leader of the most radical pro-Palestinian faction In Europe, and spearheading positions in the EU that are most hostile to Israel — all that with the support of Iran, Qatar, and even Turkey.
More people in the West and Israel must be aware of Sanchez’s incendiary Middle East agenda to sway people from his local political failures.
Angel Mas is the President of ACOM - Action and Communication on the Middle East, a legal group in Spain in the fight against antisemitism and in favor of the relationship between Spain and Israel, on the basis of shared values and common interests.
This op-ed is published in partnership with a coalition of organizations that fight antisemitism across the world. Read the previous article by Adam Levick.