Colombia is the latest country to announce the intention of severing diplomatic relations with Israel in protest over the Israeli government’s handling of the war against Hamas in Gaza.
President Gustavo Petro had already heavily criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and requested to join South Africa’s case accusing Israel of genocide at the International Court of Justice.
“Here in front of you, the government of change, of the president of the republic announces that tomorrow we will break diplomatic relations with the state of Israel … for having a government, for having a president who is genocidal,” Petro told cheering crowds in Bogota on Wednesday as they marched to mark International Worker’s Day and to show support for Petro’s social and economic reforms.
Petro had stated that countries cannot remain passive in the face of events in Gaza. “Now the neo-Nazis want the destruction of the Palestinian people, freedom, and culture,” he wrote on X.
In response, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz accused Petro of being “antisemitic and full of hate” and called Petro’s move “a reward” to the armed group Hamas, which on Oct. 7 led a deadly attack on Israeli military bases and communities.
Petro doubled down on his stand, “If we have to suspend foreign relations with Israel, we suspend them,” he said on X. “We do not support genocides.”
Historically, Colombia had been one of Israel’s closest partners in Latin America. But relations between the two nations have cooled since Petro was elected in 2022. Colombia uses Israeli-built warplanes and machine guns to fight drug cartels and rebel groups, and both countries signed a free trade agreement in 2020.
“Relations between Israel and Colombia always were warm, and no antisemitic and hate-filled president will succeed in changing that,” Katz wrote Tuesday. “The state of Israel will continue to defend its citizens without worry and without fear.”
Reacting to Colombia’s announcement, Israel decided to cease all security exports to Colombia following President Petro’s comparison of the IDF to Nazi Germany.
Colombia is one of a growing cohort of nations that chastise Israeli policies in Gaza. At least nine countries, including Jordan, Bahrain, Turkey, Honduras, Chile, Belize, South Africa and Chad, have recalled their ambassadors to Israel or severed ties altogether, citing humanitarian concerns about the disproportionate response to the October 7 Hamas attack on Israeli citizens. At present the number of dead Palestinians is approaching 35,000, a large percentage of them being women and children.
Before President Petro’s announcement, Chilean President Gabriel Boric Font had already warned that he would recall his ambassador to Israel, Jorge Carvajal, for consultations in the capital Santiago.
“Chile strongly condemns and observes with great concern that these military operations – which at this stage of their development involve collective punishment of the Palestinian civilian population in Gaza – do not respect fundamental norms of international law, as demonstrated by the more than eight thousand civilian victims, mostly women and children,” Boric wrote on X, citing the figure that prevailed at the time.
Moreover, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has been in the forefront of criticism against Israel’s actions in the Gaza Strip calling it “the insanity” of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. On February 19, Brazil recalled its ambassador to Israel.
However, the nation that has taken the most active and vocal stand against Israeli policies in Gaza is South Africa which recalled its entire diplomatic mission on November 6 and criticized Israel’s ambassador for disparaging those “opposing the atrocities and genocide of the Israeli government”. On November 21, Israel recalled its ambassador in South Africa for “consultation” just hours before the South African parliament was due to vote on whether to close or suspend the Israeli embassy in the country. The vote came through in favor of suspending diplomatic ties and shutting the embassy.
The Foreign Ministry issued a statement calling for de-escalation and blaming the conflagration on “the continued illegal occupation of Palestine land, continued settlement expansion, desecration of the Al Aqsa Mosque and Christian holy sites, and ongoing oppression of the Palestinian people”. South Africa also affirmed its support of a two-state solution.
South Africa voted against condemning Hamas at the United Nations and on December 29, 2023, South Africa filed the case South Africa v. Israel (Genocide Convention) at the ICJ where proceedings are still underway.
