Pedro Piqueras, on Aznar's words linking the Ceuta crisis to relations with Israel: "It's a kind of diplomatic vendetta"

José María Aznar has linked this Thursday the migratory crisis experienced in Ceuta with the deterioration of Spain's international relations and, in particular, with its relationship with Israel. These statements have been analyzed by Pedro Piqueras in Mañaneros 360, where the journalist has interpreted the former president's words as a direct accusation against Pedro Sánchez's Government.

Aznar has defended during an informative breakfast that the situation recently experienced in Ceuta demonstrates the consequences of having "alienated the friendship of relevant allies" and has urged Spain to recover a normalized relationship with Israel as soon as possible. "These days we see in the drama of Ceuta the consequences of having alienated the friendship of relevant allies, of those allies with whom it is convenient to count in crises," said the former president. He then argued that "Spain must recover as soon as possible a normalized relationship with Israel, one it should never have ceased to have with a strategic ally."

Furthermore, Aznar has criticized some of the slogans related to the Gaza conflict: "Repeating slogans like 'Free Palestine from the river to the sea' is antisemitism," he stated.

Piqueras: "In the end, José María Aznar blames the Government for the Ceuta crisis"

Jesús Cintora conveyed the statements to Pedro Piqueras during the program and asked him for his interpretation of the former president's words. "José María Aznar saying that in Ceuta, in the Ceuta crisis, are found the consequences of international relations, of having alienated the friendships of relevant allies and that they must be recovered with Israel," Cintora posed.

Piqueras was surprised by the approach, although he acknowledged that it is a possibility that had already been commented on in certain circles. "Well, I'll tell you I'm surprised and not surprised," he began. "Nothing like this had been said before. Indeed, this is new, just happened and the truth is that it's 'white and in a bottle,' isn't it?, as they say."

From there, the journalist has interpreted that Aznar's message implies holding the Executive responsible for the situation in Ceuta due to its foreign policy regarding Israel. "In the end, José María Aznar blames the Government for the Ceuta crisis for maintaining a stance that someone calls the correct stance in history, which is, well, to be on the side of the Palestinian people, the Gazan people, against Israel's aggression," Piqueras stated.

The journalist added that, although the Hamas attack is part of the origin of the conflict, Aznar would be pointing to the relations maintained by the Spanish Government with Israel since the beginning of the offensive on Gaza. "It must be said, it stems from a Hamas attack, right?, but he blames the Government for the bad relations it has had, that it has, since the Israeli attacks on Gaza," he explained.

Piqueras points to Israel, Morocco, and the United States

During his intervention, Piqueras also placed Aznar's statements in the context of the international relations of Morocco, Israel, and the United States. "Well, it's something that was being speculated about, there was talk of the possibility that Israel was behind it, and we already know that Israel, well, is an ally of Morocco, as is the United States," he pointed out.

From there, the journalist put forward a hypothesis about the background of the crisis, although without presenting it as a confirmed fact. "That is, I believe that things in that sense are a kind of diplomatic vendetta and a vendetta with an intervention of this type, with the entry of 80,000 people into Ceuta, right?" Piqueras affirmed.

The journalist has insisted that, if that interpretation were confirmed, Aznar's words would imply an accusation of enormous scope against the Executive: "If that is the case, that is, I believe that what Aznar says can be true, of course it can". Aznar's statements come in a context of debate about Spain's role on the international stage and its relations with Israel and the United States. The former president has defended that Israel is a "key ally" for Spain and has called for the recovery of diplomatic relations with the country.

Cintora: "It's tremendous because he said it just like that"

Cintora has highlighted the forcefulness of Aznar's message and has once again focused on the phrase in which the former president links the Ceuta crisis with the loss of relations with certain allies. "It's tremendous because he said it just like that, huh?", he pointed out.

From there, both have placed the discussion about Ceuta within a broader international scenario, marked by relations between the United States, Israel, Morocco, and Spain. Cintora has warned that the analysis of an apparently local crisis can be conditioned by international dynamics: "It's curious because sometimes, Pedro, when certain more local things are analyzed, one sees how there are international relations in these times".

The presenter has also mentioned the role of Donald Trump and his positions on immigration and Israel, as well as the coincidences that, in his opinion, can be found with certain positions of Vladimir Putin. "In these times when so much is being said about the Donald Trump axis, far-right in my view by the book, with the policies he is carrying out, right?, with migrants, Netanyahu with Israel, in short, be careful, huh?", he concluded before Piqueras added: "Yes, yes, and also sometimes coinciding with Putin".