Israel announces it will renew ties with Bolivia, two years after Gaza war rupture

Israel and Bolivia are restoring diplomatic relations, two years after the South American country severed ties with Jerusalem over the war in Gaza, Israel’s Foreign Ministry announced Monday.

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar and his Bolivian counterpart, Fernando Aramayo, will meet Tuesday in Washington, where they are expected to sign an agreement to renew relations, the ministry said in a statement.

Bolivia’s Finance Minister, José Gabriel Espinoza, will also participate in the event, the statement said.

According to the statement, Sa’ar held a phone call with Bolivia’s center-right President Rodrigo Paz a day after Paz was elected in October.

Sa’ar in the call conveyed Israel’s desire “to open a new chapter” and fully renew diplomatic relations, while Paz stated his intention “to lead Bolivia toward a reopening to the world and reestablishing ties with Israel,” the statement said.

It added that Foreign Ministry Director-General Eden Bar-Tal represented Israel at Paz’s inauguration in La Paz last month.

Earlier this month, Bolivia announced it was canceling visa requirements for Israeli travelers, after weeks of intense contact between the two countries to finalize the agreement to restore relations, Israel’s Foreign Ministry said.

In 2009, under then-president Evo Morales, Bolivia cut ties with Israel in protest of the 2008-2009 Gaza conflict.

Relations were briefly restored in 2019 after Morales’s resignation, but were severed again on October 31, 2023, by President Luis Arce, who accused Israel of “crimes against humanity” in its offensive in Gaza following the Hamas-led invasion on October 7 that year.

Paz, whose election put an end to two decades of left-wing rule, was congratulated upon his victory by Sa’ar, who said at the time he hoped Paz’s victory meant the two countries could start “opening a new chapter.”