Vox tries to flee from Donald Trump
The party rectifies after ascertaining that public opinion has perceived them as "vassals" of the United States and Israel
BarcelonaThe US President, Donald Trump, and the Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, are two allies of Vox who have been a constant pain in the neck for the far-right party. Until now, Santiago Abascal's formation had responded timidly to the US president's outbursts, which had allowed the rebel former leaders or left-wing formations to accuse Vox of being Trump's "slaves". However, this week the party has slightly raised its voice to distance itself from the US president's threat to cut trade with Spain or Trump's harassment of the Italian Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, to whom, with an ironic tone, he said he wanted "a restraining order". The objective is to consolidate a shift that has been debated for some time in the Vox leadership to put an end to the meek image the party had projected until now. The culmination was between March and April, when Israel carried out attacks against Christians. It was then that the national leadership made a decision, according to sources familiar with the matter consulted by ARA: "We have to distance ourselves, like Meloni".
"I think it would be very good for allies to see allies as allies and not as vassals, and I think [Donald] Trump is wrong about this [...] It is not good at all that Giorgia Meloni is suffering these kinds of absolutely unacceptable disqualifications." With these words, on Telecinco, Abascal this week consummated the shift that had been brewing for months, but which had not been clearly externalized. Despite agreeing with Trump "on many things", the Spanish far-right leader clearly distanced himself, after some of Abascal's escorts had, with less forcefulness, sometimes verbalized that the New York magnate's words were "hard to understand", such as those directed against the Pope or against the Italian Prime Minister. This was done in mid-April by the spokesperson in Congress, Pepa Millán.
In the case of Israel, according to party sources consulted, "self-criticism has been made": "Everyone said we were vassals of Trump and Netanyahu, we hadn't been astute enough," they add. A more marked own activity and profile was lacking, "like Meloni". For the Italian prime minister, this has led to her being a victim of Trump's attacks. Other party sources emphasize that the critical statement made when Israel vetoed the celebration of Palm Sunday should have been published hours earlier, although it is true that the leadership made direct efforts with Netanyahu's government to reverse what was considered intolerable. The acknowledgment of the error has led to "melonizing", albeit with more moderation, since the Italian has not hesitated to enter into total conflict when convenient, even in diplomatic crises like those that exist today between Italy and the USA.
Internal debate
Be that as it may, various critics such as the former vice-president of Castile and León Juan García-Gallardo or the current Madrid councilor and former party secretary-general, the expelled Javier Ortega Smith, try to cling to contradictions such as the Israeli one to attack Vox as a party subject to Israel and at times to the United States. However, within Vox they are cautious and have accounted for the incidence of the Israeli phenomenon on the vote being "minimal" – the anti-abortion Catholic vote is also negligible, even though various postulates like this are part of their DNA.
When the conflict between Israel and Palestine cruelly highlighted the attacks of the Hebrew state against Christian peoples, prohibitions of Catholic religious celebrations or offenses to Christian religious symbols, a more than latent discomfort emerged within Vox, a party that has always identified with the Catholic tradition of Spain. The same happened with some outbursts from Donald Trump, with insults against Spain as a country or announcing harsh measures against the State such as tariffs. Vox did not endorse it, but circumscribed it within the defense of the national interests of the USA. Here the Giorgia Meloni route already emerged.
After Vox left the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR), Meloni's radical right-wing party in the European Parliament, to move to Patriots, they re-established relations. Last year Abascal and the Italian leader met in Rome and in January of this year they showed harmony at the Spanish leader's home and during a car ride. Now it is their mirror, at least in international politics.
