A Jewish Oligarch’s Plot to Control Spanish Populism

In the shadowy corridors of Spanish politics, few figures wield as much soft power as David Hatchwell Altaras. The Madrid-based businessman has worked systematically to infiltrate the Spanish right. As the liberal international order buckles under the weight of its own contradictions, Jewish elites like Hatchwell are working tirelessly to ensure that the emerging nationalist movements remain firmly within the Zionist orbit—a process that threatens to water down genuine European nationalism while preserving Israel’s strategic position in a multipolar world.

The Making of a Zionist Operative

David Hatchwell’s rise to prominence in Spanish politics was no accident, but the product of generations of careful planning. Born into a family that had dedicated itself to the rehabilitation of Jewish influence in Spain, Hatchwell inherited both the financial resources and institutional networks necessary to shape the Spanish political scene. His father, Mauricio Hatchwell Toledano (1940-2011), laid the groundwork for this transformation through decades of patient work in normalizing Spanish-Jewish relations after the death of Francisco Franco in 1975.

The elder Hatchwell arrived in Spain in 1964, just as Franco’s regime was entering its final phase. Rather than simply establishing a Jewish community, Mauricio understood that a lasting Jewish influence in the Iberian Peninsula required constant engagement with Spanish institutions and the cultivation of pro-Jewish sentiment among the broader population. His founding of EXCEM Grupo in 1971 provided the financial foundation for what would become a multi-generational project of political infiltration.

More significantly, Mauricio Hatchwell spearheaded the historic Sepharad ’92 initiative that helped repair tense relations between Spaniards and international Jewry. In 1992, on the 500th anniversary of the Jewish expulsion from Spain, Mauricio Hatchwell commissioned what he called “the most beautiful facsimile ever produced, no more, no less” of the medieval Alba Bible. This 15th-century manuscript, created through Jewish-Christian collaboration, became a powerful symbol of a rapprochement between the two faiths.

On March 31, 1992, at the Pardo Palace in Madrid, Hatchwell presented copies of the Alba Bible facsimile to King Juan Carlos I of Spain and Israeli President Chaim Herzog. This ceremony marked the moment when King Juan Carlos formally revoked the 1492 Expulsion Edict and welcomed Jews back to Spain.

Hatchwell’s Use of Corporate Power to Advance Jewish Causes

David Hatchwell has continued in his father’s footsteps by using his current position as President of EXCEM Grupo by leveraging vast financial resources and international connections to influence Spanish politics. His business portfolio, spanning real estate investment trusts, venture capital operations, and international consulting, has created multiple vectors for political engagement. As Chairman of OurCrowd Iberia, Hatchwell has facilitated Spanish investment in Israeli startups while also looking for opportunities to “invest in Spanish tech companies seeking to bring additional leaders from the local ecosystem onto the OurCrowd platform.”

Hatchwell also chairs Fundaciòn Hispanojudía, a non-profit organization focused on raising awareness about Jewish heritage and cultural traditions in Spain. He finalized a $40 million project to house the Museo Hispanojudío in Madrid by securing a 30-year lease on a historic building for $20 million up front to cover rent and taxes, while allocating another $20 million for interior remodeling. This deal has paved the way for the establishment of the “first major Jewish museum in Spain and the Iberian Peninsula,” according to The Times of Israel.

Instead of relying on state funding, Hatchwell tapped into an international pool of private donors to fund the initiative, which is designed to celebrate Jewish history and Sephardic heritage, foster cultural dialogue, and serve as a global center for Jewish identity within the Spanish-speaking world.

Hatchwell’s Outreach to the Spanish Right

Hatchwell’s most notable achievement has been his concerted efforts to project Jewish influence within Spain’s right-wing scene. In doing so, he has transformed what could have been genuinely nationalist parties into reliable instruments of Zionist foreign policy. His public defense of the populist right VOX party in 2019 exemplifies this strategy. When accusations of antisemitism were launched against VOX, Hatchwell provided crucial cover by personally vouching for party leaders Santiago Abascal, Iván Espinosa de los Monteros, and Rocío Monasterio in a post he published on the website of Action and Communication on the Middle East (ACOM)—a pro-Israel organization based in Spain.

Hatchwell co-founded ACOM in 2007. For its part, ACOM has achieved a remarkable 85 legal victories against the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement in Spanish courts. ACOM’s most significant triumph came in September 2022 when Spain’s Supreme Court ruled for the first time that BDS is discriminatory and illegal for public institutions to support.

Hatchwell has made it a point to co-opt the burgeoning populist movement in Spain and make sure that it does not take an antisemitic turn. ​​“I have the pleasure of knowing Santiago Abascal, Iván Espinosa de los Monteros and Rocío Monasterio of VOX personally, and I want to say loud and clear as a Spanish Jew that VOX is NOT an antisemitic political party,” Hatchwell affirmed in his defense of VOX on ACOM’s website.

Hatchwell praised the party’s “unwavering support for Israel” and their willingness to confront “true far-rightists and neo-Nazis.” The intervention proved crucial in convincing international Jewish circles of VOX’s philosemitic credentials, where doubts lingered because of Spain’s long-standing association with antisemitism.

The transformation of VOX under Hatchwell’s influence is particularly striking given Spain’s historically strained relationship with Israel. VOX leaders have since made pilgrimages to Israel, meeting with Likud party officials and strengthening ties with Netanyahu’s government. In December 2023, VOX representatives visited Israel amid the Gaza conflict, with party leader Santiago Abascal posting on social media that VOX had “strengthened its close ties” with Likud. The visit focused on “stopping radical Islam” and defending “European values”—kosher populist rhetoric that perfectly dovetails with Israeli strategic objectives.

Hatchwell’s Zionist Protégé in Madrid

One of Hatchwell’s most significant alliances is with Isabel Díaz Ayuso, the rising conservative star of the establishment Partido Popular (People’s Party) and current President of the Community of Madrid. Díaz Ayuso is an unapologetic defender of the Jewish state. Earlier this year, during an event commemorating the Holocaust, she proclaimed that Israel is “the first and most important frontier of the free world” and “the only democracy in the Middle East.”  Díaz Ayuso went even further, declaring “if Israel is not safe, none of us will be.”

The partnership between Hatchwell and Díaz Ayuso has proven both strategic and enduring, spanning cultural initiatives and international business forums. Their most visible collaboration, the 2022 Madrid and The New Middle East Summit—organized by Hatchwell and inaugurated by Ayuso—positioned Madrid as a central platform for investment and as a bridge connecting Israeli and UAE investors with the Spanish-speaking world.

Under Hatchwell’s influence, Díaz Ayuso has positioned Madrid as a pro-Israel alternative to Barcelona, a city known for supporting the BDS movement. In February 2023, Barcelona Mayor Ada Colau announced the suspension of all relations with Israel, including ending the city’s 25-year twinning agreement with Tel Aviv. Colau alluded to what she described as Israel’s “systematic violation of Palestinian human rights.”

At the time of Colau’s attempt to rupture ties, Díaz Ayuso was in Israel. She used her visit to directly contradict Barcelona’s position. “Barcelona did something that is a big mistake and that doesn’t represent the whole of Spain and it does not represent Madrid,” Díaz Ayuso asserted. During her meeting with Israeli President Isaac Herzog, Ayuso specifically told him that “Ada Colau’s decision to break with Israel does not represent either Catalonia or Spain.” The president of the Community of Madrid added, “Our country is a welcoming country and, in particular, the Community of Madrid is a welcoming country.”

From Francisco Franco’s Rejection to Zionist Embrace

The transformation Hatchwell has achieved becomes even more remarkable when viewed against the backdrop of Spain’s historical relationship with Israel. Francisco Franco’s regime consistently refused to recognize Israel, viewing Jewish influence as connected to Freemasonry and communism. Spain only established diplomatic relations with Israel in 1986, as a condition for joining the European Economic Community, and even then maintained strong support for the Palestinian cause.

This historical antipathy stemmed partly from the legacy of the 1492 expulsion, when Ferdinand and Isabella’s Alhambra Decree forced Spain’s estimated hundreds of thousands of Jews to convert to Christianity or face exile.

Ironically, Franco attempted to establish diplomatic relations with Israel in 1948. However, Israeli Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion rebuffed Franco’s diplomatic overtures due to Spain’s previous ties with National Socialist Germany. Thanks to the activism by Hatchwell and other key actors in the Spanish Jewish community, Spain has been quickly moving in a pro-Israel direction in recent decades.

The main obstacle in the way of the Zionization of Spain is the current government of Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, which officially recognized Palestinian statehood in coordination with Ireland and Norway in 2024 and has taken steps to implement a comprehensive arms embargo against Israel.

Hatchwell’s Spanish operation must be understood as part of a broader European phenomenon that this author has previously detailed. The rise of Zio-populism—an Israel-friendly form of nationalism—is affecting all European nations, Spain included. While many short-sighted political activists will make the proverbial Faustian bargain with Zionist forces under the assumption that they will be granted leeway to implement nationalist policies at home, such unholy deals come with many unforeseen consequences. For one, such arrangements are primarily designed to advance Israeli interests, namely, the imposition of measures to restrict immigration from Islamic countries and other polities with migrants who tend to be hostile to Israel and the broader Jewish community.

That said, other non-White migrant groups hailing from countries sympathetic or at least indifferent to Israel—India, Nigeria, and Kenya—will be allowed to migrate with ease, much to the detriment of Western countries’ demographic core. Therein lies the problem of forging such pacts. Jewish oligarchs don’t care about maintaining homogeneous native populations the way nationalists do. In fact, they enjoy multiculturalism, so long as the golems they import don’t end up turning against their masters.

Broadly speaking, Hatchwell’s political project reflects a broader recognition among Jewish elites that the liberal international order that served their interests so well in the post-war period is beginning to fracture. As American hegemony weakens and multipolar alternatives emerge, maintaining Jewish influence requires adapting to new political realities and cultivating relationships with and eventually subverting rising political movements such as right-wing populism.

Hatchwell and many of his fellow Jewish compatriots are catching on to this trend and quickly insinuating themselves into the budding nationalist reaction to the failed globalist consensus. The primary task of nationalists on both sides of the pond is to reject the infiltration of Hatchwell and his ilk and make populism the sole domain of the Aryan man.