^{The real photograph: the Minister of Defense of Portugal, Nuno Melo, and the Ambassador of Israel to Portugal, Oren Rozenblat.}

An AÍ-generated photo of Portuguese Defense Minister Nuno Melo and Israeli Ambassador Oren Rozenblat is circulating on social media. The manipulated image falsely depicts Nuno Melo kissing the hand of the Israeli Ambassador.

The fake image was created by manipulating an official photograph taken during a real meeting between the two officials on March 27, 2026. The event was a standard diplomatic audience requested by the ambassador, and the original photos simply show the two men standing together or shaking hands.

^{The fake photograph}

The "Palestinian question"

A "Palestinian question" has politicized Portuguese national politics in the last decade, with an increasingly large number of organizations and personalities from the cultural and media spheres constantly deploring everything positive produced by Jews and the Jewish state, instead reducing it all to material interests, exploitation, and the suffering of others.

The anti-Semitic abuse, heavily sponsored by extremist organizations (which deserves to one day be severely repressed by Israeli security forces), has been so marked and excessive in Portugal that, in 2022, the strongest Jewish community in Europe in terms of culture – the Jewish Community of Porto – was portrayed in newspapers as being linked to the word "opulence". However, the "opulence" continues: more religious life, more cultural life, more teenagers from schools in the Jewish and Holocaust museums, more history films, more paintings about the Jewish history of Portugal to be integrated into the community gallery and, above all, the best-known event on the "European Day of Jewish Culture".

Protocols of the Elders of Zion's school

The old traditional myths – always anchored in the school of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion – dared this time to circulate a formal meeting between one of the few Portuguese politicians who always defended the Jews and the state of Israel, to portray him as a servant of the Israeli state. With these tasteless jokes, the anti-Semitic system is accumulating followers and trampling on the Jews without whom Portugal and its former grandeur would never have existed.

The use of Lajes Air Base

On April 10, Portuguese Minister of National Defence Nuno Melo has stated that his ministry is not responsible for authorizing the use of Lajes Air Base (Base das Lajes) by the United States. He clarified that such authorizations fall under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MNE), currently led by Paulo Rangel.

Melo explained that the U.S. presence at Lajes is governed by a long-standing bilateral protocol (the 1995 Agreement on Cooperation and Defence). According to him, the Ministry of Defence does not have to authorize specific U.S. movements, as they result directly from this agreement.

Israel

Ambassador Oren Rosenblat has played an important role in defending the Jewish state and Portuguese and international Jews. Netanyahu and Minister Sa'ar knew what they were doing when they appointed Rosenblat to come to Portugal. He has been active in celebrating historical ties between Portugal, the Jews and the State of Israel. A large number of Portuguese citizens have praised his direct engagement and solidarity, such as his visit to Leiria to offer support to those affected by local issues, which some residents described as an inspiring and constant concern beyond mere words.