Likud PR chief apologizes after endorsing far-right party in Spain
Eli Hazan, foreign affairs director for Netanyahu’s party, backtracks support for extremist Vox after online backlash
The Likud party’s foreign affairs director Eli Hazan apologized Saturday for endorsing a far-right Spanish political party ahead of the country’s general election on Sunday.
Hazan had earlier in the day tweeted good luck to Vox’s leader in the general election, and called the extremist party “Likud’s sister party” in the EU Parliament.
“It helps us a lot… anyone who supports Israel and Jews, I support him back,” he posted in Spanish.
Hazan’s post elicited backlash online, mostly from Spanish voters who pointed out the party’s ultra-nationalist rhetoric, links to Holocaust deniers and alleged Islamophobia.
Israeli-Spanish journalist Henrique Cymerman said the local Jewish community was “in shock” that Israel’s ruling party endorsed a party that he said bore “shades of neo-Nazism.”
Hazan deleted the tweet and issued an apology. In a follow-up tweet, Hazan said he should not have referenced Likud while expressing his personal opinion, and instead wished good luck to “all the Spanish parties who support Israel.”
Since the death of dictator Francisco Franco in 1975, Spain had been one of the few European countries with no far-right party to speak of.
But in Sunday’s election, Vox, with its ultra-nationalist rhetoric, could make a substantial entrance in the national parliament, gaining some 30 lawmakers out of 350, according to polls.
Practically non-existent in opinion polls a year ago, Vox leapt onto the scene in the December regional elections in Andalusia, taking nearly 11 percent of the vote.
Me gustaría pedir disculpas a todos los que se hayan sentido ofendidos por mi último tweet. No fue correcto incluir a Likud en mi opinión personal. Pido disculpas por ello. Solo me queda desear suerte a todos los partidos españoles que apoyan a Israel.
— Eli Vered Hazan (@realEliHazan) April 27, 2019
The platform of Vox, which means voice in Latin, is to defend Spain from what it says are the dangers of separatism, Muslim immigration, feminism and liberals.
In March, the party tapped a Holocaust revisionist as a congressional candidate for the central Spanish city of Albacete. The candidate, historian Fernando Paz quickly dropped out of the race citing the intense scrutiny he faced in the Spanish media.
Among Vox’s other candidates are retired generals who defend Franco’s far-right regime.
Its leader, Santiago Abascal, unapologetically defends hunting, bullfighting and traditional and Catholic family values.
