At the initiative of Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli, Israel has opened its doors to politicians from European far-right parties at the International Conference on Combating Antisemitism, to be held in Jerusalem this month.
Among others, the event will feature participation from figures such as Jordan Bardella, leader of the French National Rally, a party founded in 1972 as the National Front by Jean-Marie Le Pen, and other representatives from parties in Spain, Sweden, and the Netherlands.
Also participating will be Marion Maréchal, granddaughter of Jean-Marie Le Pen and leader of a party even closer to the far-right tradition of the founder of the National Front, and Hermann Tertsch, of the Vox party.
While the traditional Israeli boycott of far-right parties remains in effect in countries such as Germany and Austria, this change in policy for other European politicians has drawn strong criticism from Jewish organizations, which accuse these groups of fomenting antisemitism and having ties to the continent's Nazi past. Felix Klein, Germany's commissioner against antisemitism, canceled his participation after learning of the guest list.
Chikli, however, justified the decision by stating that “anti-Semitism is a growing problem in Europe due to Muslim immigration” and that “European right-wing parties understand this challenge and are willing to take the necessary measures to address it.”
Not so many months ago, Israel quickly or imperviously dismissed requests to establish diplomatic ties from various emissaries sent by these new far-right parties, or rather, fascists and neo-Nazis. Now, for some time now, they welcome them like any other democratic politician. For example, the leader of the new Spanish far-right party, Vox, recently arrived and visited the Gaza border, which they attacked on October 7. These fascists then took advantage of the legitimacy Israel gave them and the golden imagery to drum up electoral publicity. These fascists and neo-Nazis are just that: fascists and neo-Nazis. Or, those who aren't, or those who can't be proven to be so, at least have ties to the many fascists and neo-Nazis in Spain, and in turn, to those in the rest of Europe. For example, right now in Spain there is a controversy, at least in the democratic media, because Vox has named Jordi de la Fuente as the leader of their new fascist union that they have called Solidarity. He is a former leader of the neo-Nazi party MSR (Republican Social Movement), with a pro-Putin and anti-Semitic record, and for whom the prosecutor is requesting two years and two months in prison for the assault on a center for immigrant minors in El Masnou (Barcelona) in July 2019. He was also in Lebanon strengthening ties with Hezbollah, naturally anti-Semitic ties. He is even seen in photos wearing the Hezbollah emblem on his jacket, a very large patch sewn on so that it was clearly visible, it was not a badge, because these neo-Nazis, no matter how Spanish they are, are exactly the same as other neo-Nazis, who in turn all copy or try to copy their much admired Nazis from Hitler's Germany.
In the case of the repentant Spanish neo-Nazi David Saavedra, who recently became famous in Spain for recounting the absurdities he used to commit with his comrades, such as jotting down in a notebook the addresses of professionals who advertised themselves with surnames suspected of being Jewish, perhaps so that they could be the first to assassinate them in the event of a fascist or Nazi "revolution" when the Spanish people "wake up." This neo-Nazi had his entire body tattooed with Nazi symbols, Nazi soldiers and Nazi figures like Goebbels, and the largest tattoo is that of Rudolf Hess which occupies almost his entire back, or he was the typical neo-Nazi who believed all kinds of revisionist theories, anti-Semitic conspiracies like the Great Replacement to exterminate whites through laws passed by left-wing governments, such as abortion, gay rights, lax immigration policies, etc., or he believed in occult superstitions and other nonsense, such as the Earth being hollow or that the Nazis are still alive in a secret base on the Moon and have UFOs, but the democratic powers manage to hide it from the entire innocent world population. This former neo-Nazi also said that everyone in the party knows the many Vox politicians who are neo-Nazis, or that although the neo-Nazis don't like Vox's electoral program, because it's too light or like that of any other democratic party, they vote for them because they're the lesser of two evils.
For several months now, coinciding with Vox's first major electoral stagnation, this fascist party has undergone a new facelift, with some internal purges to achieve an even lighter public image than it already had among the right-wing rabble and Spanish fascists. So much so that recently, during some disturbances and protests against the Socialist party headquarters organized by the fascists, along with the right-wing Popular Party at the beginning, when the well-known Falangist and neo-Nazi Isabel Peralta arrived one day to make herself known during these highly organized protests, she was greeted with boos by the fascist rabble, who told her to leave, likely because they did not want to tarnish the positive image the fascists were gaining among Spaniards with these serious protests against the government party headquarters and the violent clashes.
In principle, currently, or until now, only the most energetic Spanish fascists and neo-Nazis are the ones who act as anti-Semites with such shamelessness, for example as the one displayed by the Falangist Isabel Peralta, who recently became famous for a more than shameless anti-Semitic public speech, especially surprising given the usual Spanish habit of manipulation, which would rarely bring that kind of thing out in public, or then the Falangist neo-Nazi continued "making a fuss" when she was expelled from Germany, where she went to learn from those very violent neo-Nazis who are still around there, or she also published a pro-Palestinian speech together with a group of Spanish neo-Nazis, in which she harangued Palestinian terrorists, making an apology for terrorism against Israel, or against the Jews.
The first time that Spaniards came across some objective information about some of the crimes committed by the Spanish fascists and pro-Nazi Falangists during the Civil War and the fascist dictatorship could well have been the book “The Last Spaniards of Mauthausen”, the Spanish bestseller published by Carlos Hernández in 2015. Although the book focuses on the Republicans, it also includes some of the most significant anti-Semitic mannerisms used by the fascists. For example, this same book mentions a then journalist Manuel Aznar, the grandfather of former Prime Minister Aznar, who wrote articles about the invasion of his beloved Nazi Germany shortly before becoming an important diplomat of the fascist regime, a meteoric rise after changing sides after having belonged to the Basque nationalist party. After Hitler's Nazi Germany invaded France, he wrote the following in the newspaper ABC for the Spanish fascists: "Legions of Jews and Freemasons descended upon the French people as upon immense plunder, and there they made bait and meat for their appetites." Aznar's grandson, former Prime Minister, was also once a staunch fascist. As a teenager, he wrote an impassioned letter for a Falangist pamphlet, which, understandably, was published, as he came from such an influential fascist family. This letter called for a return to the original Falangism or that of the fascist leader José Antonio, an ideal, if you'll pardon the redundancy, which Aznar, with much sentimentality or the usual sentimentality among these Spanish fascists, sadly claimed had been lost over the years in the fascist dictatorship. Shortly after the Nazi defeat, even the original Falangists underwent a facelift, pretending to be ignorant of the methods employed by their former German Nazi comrades. Previously, they were quite anti-Semitic, although they focused primarily on anti-Freemasonry. According to serious historians, Franco was one of the worst. When Spain signed the military pacts with the United States beginning in 1953, the fascists, or Franco, forced it to call him "the savior of the Jews." They even ordered a real savior, the Spanish ambassador to Hungary, Ángel Sanz Briz, to tell the Israeli authorities that he acted under Franco's orders. The regime carried out an intense international propaganda campaign, a tale that many Jews believed. Shortly before the signing of the pacts, the Spanish fascists became very friendly with Arab countries, taking advantage of their shared anti-Semitic ideologies. For oil, Franco even sent Falangists, weapons, and Nazi fighter planes and bombers, sold to him by Hitler's Germany, to aid Arab countries during the Israeli War of Independence from 1.948 to 1.953.
Spanish fascists, or one can extend this to all Spaniards, especially those on the right, may be the most concerned about their public image worldwide, and to this end, they don't hesitate to manipulate whatever needs manipulating, making ideological swings in the eyes of the international public as Franco did. A bit outside of politics, they are also one of the world's leading countries in cosmetic surgery. They even do the same with religion. In Spain, it is barely known that the Spanish Jesuit sect was the one calling the shots in Spain during the Second Republic, and therefore the one that instigated the start of a fascist coup d'état or a Civil War. At that time, they had the great influence of the Catholic Association of Spanish Propagandists, with publishing houses, newspapers, magazines, radio stations, schools, universities, political parties, and even a fascist paramilitary group known as the Green Shirts. Gil Robles, the leader of the CEDA party, the great right-wing party, was a Jesuit, or semi-fascist. Onésimo Redondo, one of the founders of the pro-Nazi Falange party, was also a Jesuit, one of the most anti-Semitic Spanish fascists. Shortly after the end of the Civil War, the Opus Dei sect took over. These supposedly more moderate ultra-Catholics were known for their ministers, who were called "the technocrats." They introduced capitalist economic policies that replaced the communist ones of the highly inept pro-Nazi Falangists, or those supported by the extremely inept Franco.
For all these reasons, and also because of the many fascists and neo-Nazis among the Spanish wealthy classes, it is rare to see neo-Nazis in Spain openly showing themselves. However, among the few Spanish neo-Nazis, it is also very common for them to show their great admiration for Hitler, and also for other leaders of Nazi Germany and fascism. The first time Spaniards saw what Spanish neo-Nazis were really like was in 2003 thanks to the book and television film "Diario de un skinhead" (Diary of a Skinhead), by undercover journalist Antonio Salas, who has to live in hiding due to threats from Spanish neo-Nazis. For the first time, it showed Spaniards who were copies of foreign neo-Nazis, or in many ways, copies of German Nazi criminals, whom Spaniards had previously only seen in American films. Even the neo-Nazi ultra clubs of the Real Madrid and Atlético de Madrid football teams used them, not out of football fandom as they led the Spanish people to believe, but as free political propaganda, taking advantage of their great influence in stadiums and on television and other Spanish media, so much so, or was like that because maybe they don't do it anymore to maintain a minimum public image among the Spanish children, who after the games were over would go together to their neo-Nazi bars, instead of fighting each other defending their colors as they led the many Spanish rabble who are Real Madrid and Atlético de Madrid fans to believe. Neo-Nazis from both clubs were also hired by former Real Madrid president Ramón Calderón to coerce critics and opposition candidates during Real Madrid club meetings. In recent years, it has become common to see news of Spanish neo-Nazis linked to the mafia and drug trafficking, such as the violent leader of the Valencia ultra-right, Vicente Estruch. Incidentally, he was decorated for being an exemplary Spanish citizen by what was to be the great leader of the Spanish far right, José Luis Roberto, alias "El Cojo," but his fascist party España 2000 ended up being a bluff, or perhaps the many accusations of violence and his defense of the Spanish brothel network ANELA weighed a little, so the Spanish fascists had to come up with Vox, one of the many unknown small fascist parties they had and which came about by chance, based on the massive votes in the very fascist regions of Almería and Murcia. Or a few years ago, a Spanish neo-Nazi leader who led a group of violent neo-Nazis in the very fascist city of Murcia appeared in the Spanish media. Some young communists beat her up when they recognized her in a bar, alone and unaccompanied by her violent neo-Nazis.
Spanish fascists and neo-Nazis remain highly fragmented across a multitude of parties, unions, legal and illegal organizations, etc., although there is always some sort of link that unites them, just as it unites them to the Spanish right-wing, the Catholic Church, and its ultra-Catholic sects such as Opus Dei, the Legionaries of Christ, or the ultra-Catholic terrorist sect Yunque. The latter, especially the ultra-fanatics, first unconditionally supported the right-wing party, the Popular Party, and now it is known that some of its followers are part of the new fascist party Vox. Opus Dei is more of a party to the Popular Party, and "like Franco" during the first right-wing governments, they formed part of the government's top brass, with numerous ministers, senior officials and heads of the Spanish police, making themselves known with some of their bizarre and antediluvian ideas, or these were the majority of the ministers and senior officials responsible who made the biggest political fool of themselves in the history of Spain during the jihadist attacks of 11-M in Madrid, determined to blame ETA while several of the terrorists were still at large. Days later, the elections that were planned were held, in which the polls had previously given the right-wing as the clear winner, and the socialists won the elections, but the right-wing and the media machinery of the ultra-Catholic sect began a great campaign blaming their error on Judeo-Masonic conspiracies, with their usual or own aggressive ways, they even caused the suicide of the wife of a police commissioner from the neighborhood where the attacks occurred because he did not go along with them. Normally they do not accept criticism, they can be especially virulent from the Opus Dei, a very famous sect even in Spain but of which nobody knows almost anything, or quite often they publish criticisms without evidence, other times without any basis, very easily refuted by these pearls who are great specialists in manipulations, or for example, recently one of the politicians who is adept at Opus Dei, Alfredo Fernández, a journalist in the press office of the Madrid City Council of Pozuelo de Alarcón, spread a hoax about a false case of pedophilia in the Catholic Church, so that the evil Spanish left would bite the bait by creating a media scandal among the poor Spaniards, and then make them look ridiculous... they are crazy. And it is above all because of these ultra-Catholic pearls of the Caribbean, who also control 25% of the judges in Spain, or so it was published in some left-wing media, although who knows if it is true, that Spain remains one of the Catholic countries where there are hardly any cases of pedophilia in the Spanish Catholic Church. Only 2.800 are known out of the 440.000 estimated in an official report by the Ombudsman, a government office.
In fact, 33% of Spanish judges are members of Opus Dei, according to the statement made by Judge Santiago Vidal, a magistrate of the Barcelona Provincial Court and a member of the Judges for Democracy association, a minority association of democratic Spanish judges. These judges are a frequent target of right-wing, ultra-Catholic, and fascist groups, accused of being part of the vast machinery the Socialist Party has set up to infiltrate its officials and thus ideologically skew the public administration or all branches of government in Spain. Of course, they never say anything about Opus Dei judges. In fact, I don't think any right-wing Spaniard has the slightest idea about the figure mentioned in this critique of Judge Santiago Videla. At the highest level of justice, things aren't much better. The two major parties are constantly at odds over the many political interests in their judicial decisions. In recent years, they have reached a climax, paralyzing the state's highest courts for many months because they could never reach an agreement when it came to appointing substitute judges who would sway the votes for judicial rulings in favor of one of Spain's two great ideologies.
A 33% share of judges belonging to the Spanish ultra-Catholic sect is not at all normal, not even in Spain, which is still internationally known as a Catholic state. In reality, Spaniards who practice Catholicism are a minority, almost all right-wing and fascist. The figures for secularism and atheism are becoming increasingly alarming for the Spanish Catholic Church, and are also very worrying for the larger interests of Opus Dei. This sect focuses on the Spanish upper classes, where there is surely no shortage of those interested in rising with the help of Opus Dei. Opus Dei followers make up only 0,4% of the Spanish population at most. While it is well known that this sect wields a lot of power and pulls the strings to seize power, for example, when it comes to choosing candidates for high-ranking positions or high-ranking officials, those who are not members of Opus Dei often have a tough time. Recently, the European Union elected an Opus Dei judge, María Elósegui, after a tremendous mess over the Spanish candidates to sit on the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), based in Strasbourg. The European Union had to elect a Spanish judge for the quota assigned to each state, and apparently they opted for the Opus Dei judge because she is a woman and thus comply with parity between male and female judges. Opus Dei is one of the most misogynistic parties you can find. Or this judge in particular, before being elected in Europe, made several homophobic and anti-abortion remarks. Although many of those who are Opus Dei followers are unknown, these Opus Dei figures form an elitist caste that fits in with the still very classist Spain. The worst example of all is perhaps the former Opus Dei Minister, Federico Trillo. Despite his somewhat pusillanimous ways, he remains known as a heavyweight Opus Dei follower in Spain, one of those who is unaffected by any of their many major political blunders, and then remains the same. He was also Minister of Defense during the jihadist attack of March 11, although the attack was a matter for the Minister of the Interior, Police, and Secret Services. However, a few months earlier, he had to deal with the crash of the Ukrainian YAK-42 transport plane in which 62 Spanish soldiers died due to the negligence and corruption of senior military officials. In addition, there was a botched identification of the bodies and barely any investigation. Or years earlier, Trillo was involved in a minor scandal when he vaccinated his children against meningitis against the medical criteria ordered by his own right-wing government, preferring to ignore it for his own children and thus putting the rest or the future of the other children at greater risk, something that does not seem very much like the Catholic saint that all these followers of Opus Dei believe they are or will be.
During the embarrassment of the right-wing Popular Party government following the jihadist attacks of 11-M in 2004, the main media protagonist was the then Minister of the Interior, Angel Acebes, perhaps the only senior official in the state security establishment who was not a member of Opus Dei. He is also linked to the also ultra-Catholic sect the Legionaries of Christ, which are even worse than Opus Dei. The Legionaries of Christ have the same desire to seize power in whatever state they set up camp, with elite private schools, large donations, and shady dealings, but they are also an ultra-Catholic sect even more fond of secrecy and creating messes. This is the somewhat famous Mexican sect of the satrap and pedophile priest Marcial Maciel, who in life was protected by the Pope despite numerous accusations, especially for sexual abuse of minors, although there was no shortage of the usual coercion of critics. He was also accused of leading a double life with drugs or illegitimate children. Although there are many manipulations or media entanglements that try to discredit these accusations, so there is no one to clarify them or the sect continues to function the same.
Among the top officials in state security during the first Popular Party governments, the then right-wing Minister of the Interior (for Spanish police and internal security), Juan Ignacio Zoido, and the Secretary of State, later Minister of the Interior, Jorge Fernández Díaz, stood out. Both were followers of the ultra-Catholic Spanish sect Opus Dei, who became well-known for decorating virgins and saints. In reality, this practice is more typical of antediluvian times, even though to outsiders it may seem in keeping with Spain's image as a very Catholic country. During these first right-wing governments of Aznar, they appointed the colorful director of the Civil Guard, Fernández de Mesa. The communist newspaper Público also associates him with Opus Dei. Although in his youth, he was a violent ex-Falangist who accessed the highest political positions with the Popular Party without any real qualifications, only through connections. He is not known to have any official qualifications beyond a gardening diploma with no academic value. In principle, pro-Nazi Falangists and ultra-Catholics of Opus Dei wouldn't fit in; it's well known that they were at odds during the fascist dictatorship when Opus Dei replaced the inept Falangists at the helm of the fascist economy. When Fernández de Mesa left political office, he ended up as a director of one of the major Spanish electricity supply companies, the same as other high-ranking Spanish politicians, such as former Prime Minister Aznar, or socialists like Felipe González. They are then hired as directors by major Spanish companies, generally ending up in one of the various Spanish electricity companies.
With all these gems, what need is there for neo-Nazis? All of them, including ultra-Catholic sects and Spanish neo-Nazis, are very anti-separatist, anti-abortion, extremely homophobic, and very much in favor of a "heavy-handed" police force, or even a "heavy-handed" military force, if they are allowed to or if they have the opportunity while they are in power. They don't hesitate to respond with violence, and sometimes with terrorist attacks, against anyone who publicly displays even the slightest bit of anti-Catholicism, for example at artistic demonstrations. The Oscar-winning gay film director Pedro Almodóvar is one of their favorite targets, and the other most internationally famous Spanish gay director, Amenábar, had a worldwide campaign launched against his film Agora because Christians were portrayed in such an ugly way. Or in shows like that of the famous Italian comedian Leo Bassi, after an intense extremist campaign, they placed a firebomb in one of the theaters because in his show he dresses very similarly to the Pope, only from an invented religion with a duck God, or because this religion is the complete opposite of his Catholic faith, that is, it promotes humor, culture, and what a normal person with a minimum of education understands as good deeds. Spanish fascists and neo-Nazis are like having a wild animal loose in the house.
Surprise? Don't be hypocritical. You defend Milei by silencing any news about her corrupt, neo-fascist, and violent government.