Colombia taps anti-Zionist, unrecognized ‘rabbi’ as director of religious affairs

JTA — The Colombian Jewish community is reeling after an anti-Zionist “rabbi” was tapped to be the country’s director of religious affairs.

Richard Gamboa Ben-Eleazar was appointed to the post in Colombia’s Ministry of the Interior by Colombian President Gustavo Petro, according to an announcement Gamboa made on X last Thursday.

He thanked Petro for “the opportunity to serve excluded and marginalized religious minorities from the Directorate of Religious Affairs, in the construction of a just and peaceful Colombia for all.”

But Colombia’s Jewish community does not recognize Gamboa as a rabbi, and Jewish groups have condemned him as an antisemite. He reportedly received his ordination from a Florida institution called the Esoteric Theological Seminary that advertises rabbinical degrees for $160. Gamboa’s LinkedIn displays an ordination certificate from the seminary.

Marcos Peckel, executive director of the Confederation of Jewish Communities of Colombia, expressed outrage over the appointment. Gamboa’s appointment comes after Petro severed diplomatic ties with Israel last May, accusing the country of committing genocide in Gaza, an accusation Israel has denied.

“This man refers to Zionist Jews as heretics, apostates, and Nazis. That’s how he talks about us,” Peckel told The Media Line. “A person who speaks this way cannot be entrusted with the religious freedoms of Jewish citizens.”

Mi encuentro con el Gran Rabino YISROEL DOVID WEISS, vocero de Neturei Karta, quien visita por estos días nuestro país. Los verdaderos rabinos no somos sionistas, no apoyamos al nazismo israelí, y no aceptamos el uso del Judaísmo para hacer apología del genocidio. #NotInOurName pic.twitter.com/GN2oQelrQY

— Rabino Dr. Richard Gamboa Ben-Eleazar (@rabinogamboa) March 29, 2025

Colombia’s Chief Rabbi Alfredo Goldschmidt also rejected the appointment of Gamboa, telling The Media Line, “We’ve had very good experiences with past religious affairs directors, usually evangelical leaders who respected all faiths. Gamboa has no such support—not from Jews, evangelicals, nor Catholics. He’s had clashes with all.”

Gamboa has castigated Israel and Zionism online. In a post on X in February, he wrote that Israel is a “neo-Nazi state” and said that “Zionism is an anti-Jewish, idolatrous, and apostate heresy.”

The Anti-Defamation League joined the chorus of Jewish groups denouncing the appointment, posting on X that his appointment would “threaten religious freedom and the security of Colombia’s Jewish community.”

Hijos de Abraham, unidos! En esta foto, con el Sheikh Hari (Comunidad Islámica Ahlul Bayt Colombia) y con dos sacerdotes de la Iglesia Siro-Ortodoxa, Patriarcado de Antioquía. Foto cortesía de @lauramcomunica . pic.twitter.com/BBhdAJFISt

— Rabino Dr. Richard Gamboa Ben-Eleazar (@rabinogamboa) March 17, 2025

The ADL also accused Gamboa of having “ties to extremist groups.” The Simon Wiesenthal Center said in a release that he and the ambassador representing Iran, Israel’s chief adversary, have had a close relationship.

Gamboa defended himself in another post on X, writing, “In the last 48 hours, my human rights have been violated in Colombia: religious freedom, right to honor and a good name, freedom of conscience… they have done so publicly and in my capacity as a HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDER!”