Israel to debate recognising Catalonia and the Basque Country

Israel's parliament puts Catalonia and the Basque Country on its agenda

Can Israel give Sánchez a taste of his own medicine over Gaza? Israel's parliament has decided to debate recognising the independence of Catalonia and the Basque Country, a motion which, if it went ahead, would make Tel Aviv the first country to consider such a step against Spain's territorial interests.

The move is no coincidence. In the analysis of diplomatic circles that have aired the news, it appears as a direct response to Pedro Sánchez's shift on the Gaza conflict. The Spanish prime minister's critical stance towards Israel, with recognition of a Palestinian state already on the table, would have set off every alarm in Jerusalem. If Spain backs those Israel considers its enemy, the independence debate may be the answer. The detail: the Israeli parliament takes no binding decisions on other countries' borders; its value is political, symbolic. But the gesture does not come free.

Another reading, more conspiratorial in tone, places Russia behind it. The old ambition of destabilising Spain through its independence movements, with Catalonia and the Basque Country as bridgeheads, would fit with Moscow's interest in punishing NATO from within. Some analysts point to ties between the sovereignty movement and Pilingui's circle, although no one has produced concrete evidence.

In the middle of it all, the only winner so far is the independence narrative: a stateless nation whose right to be debated in a foreign parliament is recognised is worth a thousand rallies. With pro-independence poll numbers at rock bottom, Israel has handed the sovereignty movement a second media life. And the split between Moncloa (the Spanish government's seat) and the right over support for Ukraine does not help to close the flank.