Bogota, Oct 16 (EFE).- Colombian Foreign Minister Alvaro Leyva on Monday urged the Israeli ambassador, Gali Dagan, to leave the country amid a bilateral relationship crisis following President Gustavo Petro’s position against Hamas attacks and the reaction of the Hebrew state against the Gaza Strip.
“The history of universal diplomacy will consign as a milestone the senseless lout of the ambassador of Israel in Colombia to @petrogustavo President of the Republic—shame (sic). At least apologize and leave. Intelligence is confronted with intelligence. There are States at stake”, said the Chancellor in a message on the social network X.
Petro, who has a confrontation in social networks with the world Jewish community, threatened yesterday to suspend diplomatic relations with Israel in response to the decision of that country to interrupt security exports to Colombia for “hostile and anti-Semitic statements” of the president.
“If foreign relations with Israel have to be suspended, we will suspend them. We do not support genocides. The president of Colombia is not insulted,” Petro said on the social network X.
Previously, the Government of Israel reported that it had called the Colombian ambassador to that country, Margarita Manjarrez, to express its rejection of Petro’s manifestations in X in which he shows his apparent support for the cause of Palestine and the absence of explicit condemnation of the killing and kidnapping of hundreds of Israeli civilians by Hamas.
“In response, as a first step, Israel decided to halt security exports to Colombia,” said Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Lior Haiat.
In another message published earlier today, Foreign Minister Leyva had already referred to the strained relationship between Petro and the Government of Israel by pointing out that “the President of Colombia is respected” and presenting him as the “author of the Doctrine of Total Peace for his country and the world” which “seeks a definitive solution for Israel and Palestine based on a historical vision.”
“You don’t destroy with insolence and intellectual filth. They are wrong,” argued the head of Colombian diplomacy.
The unprecedented diplomatic crisis with Israel, a country that is a significant exporter of armaments and security systems to Colombia, has surprised various sectors of society who asked the president for prudence in managing foreign relations.
“International relations must be handled with serenity and respect for the channels that diplomacy has built over time. It cannot be the fruit of a moment of effervescence. What is at stake are the country’s interests,” wrote the Ombudsman’s Office in its X account. EFE
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