Javier Bardem amplifies conspiracy theory blaming Israel for Spain border crisis

Oscar-winning Spanish screen star Javier Bardem on Saturday endorsed a conspiracy theory blaming Israel for the mass breach of Spain’s border by tens of thousands of Moroccans.

Bardem reposted an Instagram post suggesting that Israel may have helped engineer the crisis, in which roughly 50,000 young Moroccan men stormed into Spain’s North African enclave of Ceuta. “Spain has been Europe’s loudest voice against Israeli and US war crimes in Palestine, Lebanon and Iran,” the post said.

“We don’t know who engineered this crisis, but we know who benefits from a weakened, destabilised Spain: Israel, and the Western far right eager to turn migration into a weapon against Muslims,” it added.

Bardem circulated the allegation to his millions of Instagram followers alongside another post portraying the crisis as part of an alliance between Israel, the United States and Morocco.

The posts cited a 2019 message by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s son Yair, who sarcastically urged Arabs and Muslims seeking to “free occupied Arab Islamic lands” to begin with Ceuta and Melilla. The years-old exchange concerned what Netanyahu presented as Spain’s double standards over disputed territory.

The conspiracy circulated widely on X, and was endorsed by influencers and media personalities associated with the left as well as the right, including Ana Kasparian and Federalist founder Sean Davis.