Israel and Venezuela renew consular relations for first time since 2009

Israel and Venezuela announced on Tuesday that they had renewed consular relations, 17 years after diplomatic ties were severed between the two countries.

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar and his Venezuelan counterpart Félix Plasencia agreed to renew consular ties after talks in recent weeks “resulted in an agreement to establish a coordination mechanism that will enable the provision of consular services to citizens of both countries,” Sa’ar’s office said.

The two countries have not had any sort of diplomatic relations since 2009.

“Both governments recognize the importance of the relationship between the State of Israel and the Jewish community in Venezuela, which constitutes an important historic bridge of friendship between the two countries,” Venezuela’s government said in a statement, which was also issued by Israel’s Foreign Ministry.

It added that the two countries agreed to “continue their bilateral technical cooperation stemming from the emergency response and reconstruction efforts following the double earthquake” in June.

Venezuela severed diplomatic relations with Israel under then-president Hugo Chávez in 2009, amid deteriorating relations between Chávez’s government and Israel and a few days after the start of an IDF operation in the Gaza Strip.

But since Delcy Rodríguez was installed as the country’s president after the United States captured the previous leader, Nicolás Maduro, in January, officials have sharply changed their tone regarding the Jewish state.

Ties have also warmed since Israel sent humanitarian assistance following the earthquake. An Israeli aid delegation was dispatched to Venezuela, which provided professional assistance to the country’s emergency response and recovery efforts.

In comments a month ago, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hailed Israel’s humanitarian delegation to Venezuela, saying at the time that it was also contributing to “rebuilding relations” with Caracas.

“You are rebuilding ruins, and you are also rebuilding relations. You are showing the people of Venezuela, as well as the Venezuelan government, the true face of the State of Israel,” Netanyahu said last month in a video message.

And in January, following the US removal of Maduro from power, Sa’ar expressed hope that it would ultimately lead to the renewal of ties between Jerusalem and Caracas.

“Israel welcomes the removal of the dictator who led a network of drugs and terror and hopes for the return of democracy to the country and for friendly relations between the states,” Sa’ar said at the time.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.