De la Espriella pledges to restore Colombia’s relations with Israel
The far-right president-elect has pledged to rebuild ties with Israel and the US following tensions under outgoing leader Gustavo Petro. Colombia’s President-elect Abelardo de la
The far-right president-elect has pledged to rebuild ties with Israel and the US following tensions under outgoing leader Gustavo Petro. Colombia’s President-elect Abelardo de la Espriella has pledged to restore relations with Israel, after diplomatic ties were severed over the country’s genocidal campaign in Gaza. On Wednesday, de la Espriella — the far-right political newcomer who emerged the victor in June 21’s run-off election — acknowledged he had taken a congratulatory call from Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar. “Thank you, my dear friend,” de la Espriella wrote to Saar in a social media exchange. “Colombia will restore and strengthen its relationship with the State of Israel like never before. Israel can count on Colombia as a loyal friend and steadfast ally. May God bless our two nations.” Saar, for his part, called de la Espriella “a true friend of the Jewish people and the state of Israel” and expressed hope that the Israel-Colombia alliance would be “stronger than ever”. Those remarks signal a coming reversal in Colombia’s foreign policy. For the last four years, Colombia has been led by Gustavo Petro, the country’s first-ever left-wing president. Since his election in 2022, Petro has been vocal in his criticism of Israel and its top ally, the United States, blasting both countries for human rights abuses.
But that criticism became particularly pronounced after the war on Gaza began in October 2023. Within the first weeks of the war, Petro became one of the first world leaders to accuse Israel of genocide in the Palestinian territory. “It is called genocide; they are doing it to drive the Palestinian people out of Gaza and take the territory for themselves,” Petro wrote on November 1, 2023. “The head of the state committing this genocide is a criminal against humanity. His allies cannot speak of democracy.” Some of his statements were considered controversial. After Israel’s then-Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said his country was fighting “human animals” in Gaza, Petro drew a comparison between the minister’s remarks and hateful Nazi rhetoric. “This is what the Nazis said about the Jews,” Petro posted in October 2023. “Israelis and Palestinians are human beings subject to international law. If this hate speech continues, it will lead only to a holocaust.” Israel responded to that statement by halting security exports to Colombia. It also denounced Petro’s words as anti-Semitic. More than 73,000 Palestinians are believed to have been killed since Israel’s war on Gaza began. Experts at the United Nations have found that Israel’s methods against Gaza were “consistent with genocide”, pointing to intentional attacks on civilians, strikes against aid workers and efforts to level civilian infrastructure, including water and sanitation systems.
The BriefWire