Israel Matzav: Whose side is Spain on?

Whose side is Spain on?

Back in the good old days of the Bush administration, there was moral clarity. As President Bush so famously put it, "are you with us or are you with the terrorists"? Today, with a new administration in Washington, any questions that are put are more muddled. And some countries are having difficulties articulating an answer. Take Spain for instance.

Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos was in Israel this week, and was scheduled to meet with Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, who just returned from a trip to Africa. But on Thursday morning, Moratinos was summoned back to Spain in a hurry to meet with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who had just come from promising a supply of sanctions-busting gasoline to Iran. Chavez and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad know where they stand. Do Spain and its foreign minister know where they stand?

Moratinos' office said Chavez had advanced his arrival in Spain and this was the reason he cut short his visit to Israel, but the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem expressed amazement at the cancellation, saying the time of the Venezuelan president's arrival in Spain was known in advance.

Moratinos has been in Israel for several days and has already met President Shimon Peres, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Ehud Barak and opposition leader Tzipi Livni.

The Spanish Foreign Ministry said that Moratinos called Lieberman and apologized for the need to shorten his visit and explained he did so at the behest of the Spanish prime minister. The office of Moratinos also said that Lieberman and his Spanish counterpart have talked over the phone several times this week on current issues and will continue the good communications between the sides.

MK Robert Tibayev, No. 20 in Kadima, said that "despite our differences with Lieberman, the fact that the Spanish foreign minister cancels a meeting with the Israeli foreign minister in order to be present at a meeting with the dictator from Venezuela, testifies first and foremost to the distorted priorities of the Spanish government."

Indeed.

Israel Matzav: Whose side is Spain on?