Feijóo bows to Aznar and claims Israel as "the only democracy in the Middle East."

MadridThe position on Gaza is a headache for Alberto Núñez Feijóo. The PP leader already saw two days ago how José María Aznar and Isabel Díaz Ayuso, the party's hardline wing, They corrected him after he spoke in Congress on Wednesday about the "massacre" of the Palestinian people.At the closing ceremony of the FAES Campus this Friday, the foundation chaired by the former Spanish Prime Minister, Feijóo found himself in the awkward position of having to present his position on this issue—the theme of the conference was international politics—under the watch of Aznar, clearly aligned with Benja's government. Although Feijóo again spoke of the "massacre in Gaza," he toed the line of the former Spanish Prime Minister and the Prime Minister of Madrid. "It is not normal to condemn the Israeli people, who are still awaiting the release of their innocent hostages, and we must remember that they represent the only existing democracy in the Middle East," Feijóo stated.

The Popular Party leader directed all his criticism at Pedro Sánchez, whom he accused of "misusing foreign policy for his personal interests." According to Feijóo, the Spanish Prime Minister is trying to "dehumanize his political rivals" with Israel's attacks on Gaza. This is the same thing he defended to Aznar in a previous speech. "Foreign policy should never be understood as an escape from internal problems or as a mirror in which to test moral positions. Humanitarian sentiments are no one's monopoly," said the former PP president. Aznar argued that it is necessary to separate "human suffering" from the "responsibilities" involved in international politics, which "are not a matter of emotions or feelings but of realities." "Contributing to a safer and freer world does not mean turning Spain into an unreliable state," Aznar insisted.

Feijóo's statement about Israeli "democracy" comes after Aznar said at the inauguration of the FAES Campus this Wednesday that if Israel lost "in what it is doing [to Gaza]" –and Russia won against Ukraine," he added– in the Western world. Ayuso also outlined the path that Feijóo followed two days later, who in Congress did not use that expression that he has now made his own. "Why is the only democracy in the Middle East being demonized and regimes legitimized? This is all part of a totalitarian political plan," said the Madrid president. In response to this warning to the state leadership of the PP, Feijóo made it clear that he is not "on the other side of the wall" with Sánchez. "I am happy to continue on that side, with a defender of democracy like President Aznar, and not on the other, with defenders of non-democratic regimes on the other side of the Atlantic," said the PP president.

Disqualifications against Sánchez

Much of both speeches was a string of insults against Sánchez. Aznar stated that the Socialist leader "is willing to be a willing hostage to violence," referring to the pro-Palestinian protests at the Vuelta a España (Spanish Tour of Spain), and warned that one cannot simultaneously play the "role of policeman and street agitator." According to the former Spanish president, Spain is currently governed by a "corrupt ineptocracy" that seeks only to "divert attention and steer public opinion away from the scandals." Feijóo also said that Sánchez "does everything he can to cover up his corruption, his lies, and his incompetence." "Violence is the last resort of an incompetent person," he asserted.