The leader of Spain's Vox party expressed support for Israel this week, telling Israel Hayom that he shares many of the Jewish state's views on Hamas and Iran.
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Formed in 2013, Vox ("Voice") is a conservative right-wing political party, although its critics qualify it as far-right. The popularity of Vox has been growing steadily since its inception and it is now the third-largest political party in Spain, winning 52 of the 350 seats in Madrid's parliament and earning the support of 15% of the public.
Vox champions a return to Spain's national values, border defense, and the struggle against radical Islam and its allies in the country's radical Left. Statements by its officials seem to position it alongside a long list of European right-wing parties that look at the Jewish state as something of a role model.
In his first interview with Israeli media, Vox chief Santiago Abascal told Israel Hayom he believes "Hamas is a terrorist organization – these barbarians have no place in Europe. Neither Spain nor Europe can support terrorist attacks against Israel. We regret that some parties in our country support or side with those who attack Israel."
Abascal, 45, explained his party supports Israel "because we believe it is the only democracy in the Middle East."
This support also extends to shared views on the Iranian threat.
Vox's leader said he believes the Iranian regime is a threat to Spain's stability, especially given what he defined as a "war of civilizations" in Spain between radical Islam and its Western supporters.
"In the 2015 [nuclear] agreement, [then-US President] Barack Obama and the rest of the international community threw themselves into Tehran's arms," he said.
"At that time, the ayatollahs' regime financed communism in Spain to undermine the stability of our nation, so later, we supported the decision of [US President] Donald Trump to break from the agreement, as it only benefited Iran."
The Islamic republic "must stop threatening the existence of countries like Israel and it has to stop undermining the stability of democracies like ours," he stressed.
"We will not tolerate Iranian involvement in Spain's institutions, parties and civil society. We are talking about a regime that does not respect human rights and has funded an anti-establishment political party like Podemos, which allowed it to reach positions of influence in government. That caused enormous damage to Spanish society," he lambasted.
Founded in 2014, Podemos is a left-wing party that favors anti-austerity, anti-corruption and anti-establishment views. Many in Spain's right-wing circle believe it has been willingly doing Tehran's bidding in Spain through its founder's ties to HispanTV – an Iranian Spanish language news channel operated by IRIB, Iran's state-controlled broadcaster.
Asked about Spain-Israel relations should he be elected prime minister, Abascal said, "I believe we have common threats and we must share tools and intelligence to eradicate or reduce them.
"We are in a struggle between civilizations. Radical Islam threatens Europe and in many cities, the extremists have taken to the streets where the country has disappeared. Israel has suffered from this extremism almost before everyone else. We must cooperate with it [Israel] to fight it."
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