Almost a week after José María Aznar's words about Palestine resonated, Alberto Núñez Feijóo has stopped putting himself in profile and has channeled the PP's position. The former president of the Government burst in a few days ago opposing the recognition of the Palestinian State, filling the void left by the leader of the PP. “To those who defend the creation of a Palestinian state now... what state are they referring to? That does not exist,” said Aznar, who was answered by the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, who is leading the initiative for the recognition of Palestine abroad. “The [Palestinian State] exists and will exist,” the socialist leader replied, in a clash that left the leader of the PP in an uncomfortable position, while unrest spread in the PP with the prominence of its former president. Feijóo, his direct team alleges, had not wanted to get into this matter until now so as not to give Sánchez an advantage in his attempt to "divert attention" towards foreign policy to "escape" from domestic affairs, but given the increase in The pressure took advantage of this Wednesday's debate to organize the PP's position. The leader of the PP distances himself from Aznar by supporting the two-state solution, but warns Sánchez that he does not support his initiative, which continues to threaten the parliamentary consensus on this issue that was debated in Congress in 2014, during the Government of Mariano Rajoy.
After days of confusion and doubts in the PP about the party's position regarding the recognition of the State of Palestine promoted by Pedro Sánchez, the popular leader finally clarified where the PP is. Feijóo announced in the debate that the PP “shares the two-state solution” and that “the position from a decade ago, that of 2014, is still valid,” in reference to the proposal that the PP supported that year of recognition of the Palestinian State. . However, the popular leader warned that the “when and how” are “key,” and maintained that the PP would support this initiative if the recognition were “as a result of a negotiating process” and “has a critical mass of more countries.” of weight”, conditions that are not met at this time.
Feijóo in fact disqualified the president's initiative as a "broad brush" proposal and attributed it to him being "blinded by the desire for prominence." “The recognition of a State without the conditions being met for it to be viable can harm the Palestinians,” he warned. “I'm not telling you not to recognize the Palestinian State,” he questioned Sánchez, “I'm telling you not to do it alone.” The president, for his part, hit the PP leader insistently with Aznar's words. “He says that other important countries should do it first. Is that his proposal for Spain's foreign policy? Let others do it? You do not have political autonomy because the one who decides is Mr. Aznar. You lower your head and nod at what he says.”
Feijóo had navigated in profile for almost a week, until this Wednesday, after the words of the former president of the PP, which caused internal discomfort in sectors of the party's leadership. “With all due respect to the former presidents, why is what Aznar says paid attention to? If Felipe González is not listened to, why should Aznar be listened to?” complains a leader of the PP leadership. “The position was fixed since 2014,” insists this member of the leadership in reference to the proposal that the PP voted that year in Congress and that supported the two-state solution.
After Feijóo finally stated the position, Génova officially avoided a clash with the former president and framed the differences in that “the PP is a broad party in which different opinions fit.” The discrepancies reach the top because the deputy secretary of Autonomous Coordination and member of Feijóo's steering committee, Elías Bendodo, who is Jewish, has acknowledged that he is closer to Aznar's thesis. “I am much closer to President Aznar's opinion, but much, much, much closer than, obviously, to that of Pedro Sánchez,” he said a few days ago when asked about it.
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The PP leadership is upset with Sánchez's attempt to direct the debate towards foreign policy issues and maintains that his tours abroad - this week he travels to Norway and Ireland - are his “Marina d'Or”, in reference to the city holiday in Castellón. “He is embarked on a personal promotion tour,” they censure in Genoa. Feijóo has never felt completely comfortable in foreign policy matters, and in any case he prefers to focus on domestic politics such as the
Koldo case
and the amnesty, which he believes are wearing down the PSOE more.
During the debate with Sánchez in Congress, the PP leader also echoed conspiracy theories such as the one that maintains that Sánchez changed Spain's position on the Sahara because Morocco spied on his cell phone. “Stop sacrificing the interest of Spain for personal matters, for what you have on your cell phones,” said the PP leader. In the same way, Feijóo suggested an alleged collusion of the Spanish Government with the president of Venezuela following the visit of the Venezuelan vice president Delcy Rodríguez to Madrid in January 2021, where she met with former minister José Luis Ábalos, a case that was archived by the National Court that year. “You protect Maduro for what his vice president brought in suitcases,” Feijóo nevertheless launched this Wednesday. “How brave he is with dead dictators,” he snapped at Sánchez, “and how submissive with the living,” he added. That same phrase had been used by his predecessor at the head of the PP, Pablo Casado, to question the exhumation of the dictator Franco.
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