Colombia’s incoming foreign minister says country will be 9th to open embassy in Jerusalem

Colombia’s incoming foreign minister tells Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar that his country will open an embassy in Jerusalem, according to Sa’ar’s office.

Colombia will be the ninth country to open an embassy in Israel’s capital.

The United States, Guatemala, Honduras, Kosovo, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Fiji and Somaliland also have embassies in Jerusalem, while other countries — including Hungary, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia — have embassy branches in the capital.

During their Washington, DC meeting, Sa’ar and Omar Bola Escobar also agreed to restore full diplomatic relations and remove visa requirements.

Colombia recalled its ambassador in June 2024, and Israel responded by not replacing its outgoing envoy.

Colombia’s right-wing president-elect Abelardo de la Espriella said that his country and Israel will share a relationship “like never before” once he takes office in August.

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, which he has cast as a genocide — a charge vehemently denied by Israel.

Petro severed diplomatic ties and suspended the purchase of weaponry from Israel — formerly one of Colombia’s main military partners.

De la Espriella has said he will reverse these decisions, and one of his main campaign pledges was to “renew a strategic alliance with the State of Israel,” open an embassy in Jerusalem, and “defend the Judeo-Christian principles that form the foundation of Western civilization.”