Nobel Peace Prize winner Machado a strong supporter of Israel

Following Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado winning the Nobel Peace Prize, her pro-Israel stance is now in the spotlight. It is noteworthy that Machado is a close acquaintance of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and has not raised any criticisms of the Zionist power’s illegal occupations, including in Gaza. While known by the tagline of a democrat, she is also a strong advocate of right-wing capitalist politics.

Machado's party had signed an agreement to work together with the right-wing coalition Likud, led by Benjamin Netanyahu. The gist of the agreement signed by Machado's party was that they would work together on political, ideological and social issues. In 2019, Netanyahu also stated that Venezuela's struggle was also Israel's, implying his support for Machado.

When Machado strongly criticised Hamas's attack on Israel on October 7, she remained silent when Netanyahu’s Jewish state military actions were equal to genocide in Gaza. In 2018, she wrote a letter to Netanyahu calling for Israeli military intervention in Venezuela. Her allies in the Venezuelan opposition had criticised her for the move.

Machado also had said that if she came to power in Venezuela, she would restore diplomatic relations with Israel.

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro had severed diplomatic relations with Israel over Israel's military actions, including in Gaza.

The Norwegian Nobel Committee on Friday has decided to award the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize to Venezuela’s influential opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, amid President Trump’s persistent claim for the prize, news agencies have reported.

Nobel Committee, consisting of five members, have chosen Corina Machado to honour her ‘tireless work promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela and for her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy’.