London<\/a>, and Brussels. Colombia has not publicly named an ambassador it will send to Israel.\u00a0<\/p>\nMarcos Peckel, executive director of the Confederation of Jewish Communities of Colombia and commissioner to combat antisemitism at the Latin American Jewish Congress, expects the restoration of relations to be announced during, or immediately after, De la Espriella\u2019s inauguration.<\/p>\n
The Israeli mission in Bogot\u00e1 continued operating as a consulate after relations were severed, Peckel told The Media Line. Restoring it to embassy status can therefore be accomplished more quickly than establishing an entirely new mission. He said the next steps would likely include naming Colombia\u2019s ambassador, restoring military and police attach\u00e9s, and expanding security cooperation that had deteriorated under Petro but had never disappeared entirely.<\/p>\n
De la Espriella is proposing more than a return to the relationship that existed before the rupture. Rather than reopen Colombia\u2019s former embassy in Tel Aviv, he has promised to establish it in Jerusalem.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a campaign promise by the president, and he is going to fulfill it,\u201d Peckel said. \u201cIs it going to generate polarization? Yes. Is it going to generate debate? Yes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Petro called the Jerusalem proposal a grave offense to Muslim countries. The Organization of Islamic Cooperation also condemned it, warning that the move could harm Colombia\u2019s relations with its 57 member states and describing it as contrary to United Nations resolutions governing Jerusalem\u2019s status. The organization urged the incoming administration to reverse course and maintain support for a two-state solution.<\/p>\n
The embassy announcement remains a political commitment rather than a completed transfer. The location, budget, and opening date have not been disclosed. Nor has the incoming government announced that it will reverse Colombia\u2019s 2018 recognition of a Palestinian state.<\/p>\n
Colombia to withdraw from Hague case against Israel<\/p>\n
De la Espriella has, however, said he will halt the opening of a Colombian diplomatic mission in Palestine, arguing that the planned representation never became operational. The decision was part of a broader reorganization of Colombia\u2019s foreign service that also calls for the closure of 14 embassies and about 15 consulates. Closing the proposed mission would not, by itself, withdraw Colombia\u2019s recognition of Palestinian statehood.<\/p>\n
The planned break with Petro\u2019s policy also extends to The Hague. Colombia filed a declaration in April 2024 to intervene under Article 63 in South Africa\u2019s case against Israel under the Genocide Convention. It did not file the original lawsuit, and it is not a plaintiff in the case. De la Espriella\u2019s government has said it intends to withdraw Colombia\u2019s intervention after taking office.<\/p>\n
The incoming administration has also announced a change in Colombia\u2019s conduct at the United Nations, saying it will adopt what it describes as a more neutral and consultative position. It has not identified specific resolutions that Colombia would oppose, support, or abstain from under the new policy.<\/p>\n
Spektorowski said the first phase should be understood as a diplomatic reversal. A strategic alliance may follow, he said, particularly in areas such as security and efforts to limit Iranian influence in Latin America, but that outcome is not yet assured.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe first step is the diplomatic question,\u201d Spektorowski told The Media Line. \u201cIt is to completely change the attitude toward Israel that existed under Petro.\u201d<\/p>\n
He sees Israel and Palestine as symbols in a larger political contest. Parts of the Latin American left have embraced the Palestinian cause, he said, while rising conservative movements have responded by making support for Israel part of their political identity.<\/p>\n
That symbolism should not be confused with the reasons most Colombians vote, he added. Economic performance, corruption and domestic security remain far more consequential than Middle Eastern affairs for the electorate.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe challenges for Colombia\u2019s president will be how to rebuild Colombia and how to establish the basis of its economy,\u201d Spektorowski said. \u201cThat is what will define him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Janiel Melamed, director of Barranquilla\u2019s Citizen Security Observatory and a professor and researcher at Universidad del Norte\u2019s Department of Political Science and International Relations, made a similar distinction. Most Colombian voters are concerned with their household finances and daily security rather than events in the Middle East, he said. Foreign policy becomes politically relevant when its consequences reach local industries or public budgets.<\/p>\n
Melamed pointed to the coal restrictions as one example. Petro\u2019s government initially restricted exports under Decree 1047, issued in August 2024. A later decree, Decree 0949 of August 28, 2025, removed the remaining exceptions and prohibited all thermal-coal exports to Israel.<\/p>\n
He argued that the prohibition did little to constrain Israel, which could seek other suppliers, while reducing royalty income in Colombia’s coal-producing areas. Those revenues, he said, help finance infrastructure, education and sanitation.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a kind of shot in the foot,\u201d Melamed said. \u201cThe measure ended up being counterproductive to Colombia\u2019s own national interests.\u201d<\/p>\n
Although the incoming government has emphasized commercial restoration, it has not yet issued a decree to repeal the coal ban. Peckel said he expects its removal to be among the first concrete measures after August 7. Colombia and Israel\u2019s free-trade agreement, in effect since 2020, was not automatically terminated when diplomatic relations were broken, but the rupture and related restrictions impeded the institutions that support trade.<\/p>\n
No major antisemitic attacks have followed the new Israel policy<\/p>\n
For Colombia\u2019s Jewish community, the diplomatic rupture created practical and emotional strain without stopping communal life. Synagogues, schools, and other institutions continued to operate normally, Peckel said, and no wave of serious attacks followed the government\u2019s policy.<\/p>\n
The community nonetheless faced what Peckel called \u201cantisemitism from the state,\u201d citing Petro\u2019s comparisons between Gaza and Auschwitz, references to Nazism and repeated statements about Jews. The frequency of the president\u2019s remarks made responding to each one impractical, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe did not have to interrupt any activities, prayers or schools,\u201d Peckel said. \u201cBut it generated concern and discomfort.\u201d<\/p>\n
Peckel also warned that an intensely pro-Israel government could expose the community to a different form of political pressure. Colombian Jews, he said, could again be treated as stand-ins for a foreign government, this time by opponents of De la Espriella.<\/p>\n
\u201cAn excessively pro-Israel president can generate antisemitism and hostile declarations against us,\u201d Peckel said. \u201cThat is something we are watching very closely.\u201d<\/p>\n
The next test comes on August 7. De la Espriella can restore diplomatic relations as soon as he assumes office, and Aisen is expected to arrive in Bogot\u00e1 later that month. Colombia has yet to name its ambassador; the scope of the visa agreement and the timetable for opening an embassy in Jerusalem remain unsettled.<\/p>\n
Reopening diplomatic channels may prove to be the easiest part of the reset. Withdrawing Colombia\u2019s intervention at the International Court of Justice, repealing the coal decree, and establishing an embassy in Jerusalem will each require separate legal or administrative action. The first announcement could come on inauguration day. Whether the two countries can build a relationship that survives Colombia\u2019s next political shift will take much longer to determine.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Colombia\u2019s incoming president, Abelardo de la Espriella, is preparing to reverse nearly every major element of Gustavo Petro\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":232443,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[33],"tags":[19433,65669,21078,8772,37,65670,2980,179,65671,715],"class_list":["post-232442","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-israel","tag-colombia","tag-colombian-jews","tag-foreign-embassy","tag-icc","tag-israel","tag-jews-in-colombia","tag-latin-america","tag-military","tag-the-confederation-of-jewish-communities-of-colombia","tag-the-media-line"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@iran\/117025147852368304","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/232442","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=232442"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/232442\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/232443"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=232442"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=232442"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=232442"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}