Nobel Peace Prize winner Mara Corina Machado supports Israel’s war and Benjamin Netanyahu? Here are the facts

Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday. The former opposition presidential candidate was lauded for being a "key, unifying figure" in the once deeply divided opposition to President Nicolás Maduro's government, said Jørgen Watne Frydnes, chair of the Norwegian Nobel committee.

 

"María Corina Machado – awarded the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize – has spent years working for the freedom of the Venezuelan people. The Venezuelan regime’s rigid hold on power and its repression of the population are not unique in the world. We see the same trends globally: rule of law abused by those in control, free media silenced, critics imprisoned, and societies pushed towards authoritarian rule and militarisation. In 2024, more elections were held than ever before, but fewer and fewer are free and fair," the Nobel Prize further said on X.

 

However, following the announcement, many have started to point out that the 58-year-old is a strong ally of Israel and openly backs the country's decision to bomb the largely unarmed civilians of the Gaza Strip. While there is no known evidence to argue that she supported the one-sided attack on the Palestinian civilians, Machado is undoubtedly an ally of Benjamin Netanyahu. In the past, the centrist-right leader had even declared that if she gains power, she will restore diplomatic relations with Israel.

 

María Corina Machado had expressed her solidarity with Israel following the surprise October 7 attack by Hamas. Machado, who was then an opposition primary candidate, had criticised Hamas's "terrorist attacks" on Israel. She had said terrorism must be defeated at all costs and "whatever form it takes."

 

In 2020, the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize winner's party, Vente Venezuela, signed a cooperation agreement with Likud to cooperate on “political, ideological and social issues … strategy, geopolitics and security.” For the unversed, Likud – National Liberal Movement is the right-wing Israeli political party whose chairperson is Benjamin Netanyahu. "The struggle of Venezuela is the struggle of Israel," she had said on X in 2019.

 

There is a claim that in 2018 Machado sent a letter to Netanyahu asking for the use of "power" (possibly including military intervention) against the Venezuelan government. She had reportedly cited the left-wing government's alleged association with Iran and extremist groups as a reason for this. However, reports claim that this letter was concerning her country's internal politics and had nothing to do with endorsing Israeli actions in Gaza.

Middle East