Colombia opens embassy in Jerusalem, becoming tenth country to do so

Colombia opens its embassy in Jerusalem, with Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar and visiting Colombian foreign minister Omar Bula Escobar hailing the latest move in restoring the countries’ diplomatic relations.

“Today, we are taking a concrete step toward restoring diplomatic relations between us — relations that should never have been severed. Israel is a strategic partner — it always has been, and from now on, it will be even more so,” Escobar says in a Foreign Ministry readout.

Sa’ar similarly hails the move, calling it “a recognition of the simple political fact that Jerusalem is Israel’s capital.”

Colombia’s new right-wing president Abelardo de la Espriella announced his intention to open the embassy following his election months ago, saying the two countries would have a relationship “like never before” once he takes office.

Bogota’s relations with Jerusalem nosedived under Colombia’s first-ever leftist government led by president Gustavo Petro, an ardent critic of Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza, before Espriella’s election renewed ties.

Colombia is the tenth country to open an embassy in Jerusalem, alongside the United States, Guatemala, Honduras, Kosovo, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Fiji, Somaliland and Nauru. Other countries — including Hungary, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia — have embassy branches in the capital.

Most nations’ embassies in Israel are in Tel Aviv, with countries arguing Jerusalem’s standing can only be decided as part of a final status agreement between Israel and the Palestinians, who claim East Jerusalem as the capital of a future state. Israel took control of East Jerusalem — which includes the Old City and its holy sites — from Jordan during the 1967 Six Day War. Israel annexed the territory in 1980 and considers the entire city its capital.