Colombia Wants to Sever Diplomatic Relations with Israel

Colombian President Gustavo Petro, announced his intention to sever diplomatic relations with Israel. The reason is Jerusalem’s behavior in Gaza in the recent months of the conflict.

Petro’s criticism of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is very harsh, and he explained that Colombia intends to support a lawsuit filed in the International Court of Justice by South Africa, which has accused Israel of genocide.

“Here, before you, the government of change, the president of the Republic announces that tomorrow we will sever diplomatic relations with the state of Israel because their president is engaged in genocide. We cannot accept the extermination of an entire people … if Palestine perishes, humanity perishes,” Petro said in Bogota on May 1 on the occasion of International Workers’ Day.

Israel issued a response that came from Foreign Minister Yisrael Katz, who accused the Colombian president of anti-Semitism and escalated the issue on X social media: “Colombia’s president promised to reward Hamas killers and rapists and today he kept his promise.”

Instead, Hamas made it clear that it appreciated Petro’s gesture and also suggested that other Latin American countries cut ties with Jerusalem.

As early as October 2023, Bolivia cut off diplomacy with Israel, and other countries, such as Chile and Honduras, also withdrew their ambassadors.