Israel and Bolivia to restore diplomatic ties tomorrow after rupture over Gaza war, Sa’ar announces

Israel and Bolivia are restoring diplomatic relations, two years after the South American country severed ties with Jerusalem over the war in Gaza, the Foreign Ministry announces in a statement.

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar and his Bolivian counterpart, Fernando Aramayo, will meet tomorrow in Washington DC, where they are expected to sign an agreement to renew relations, the statement reads. Bolivia’s Finance Minister, José Gabriel Espinoza, will also participate in the event.

According to the statement, Sa’ar held a phone call with Bolivia’s President Rodrigo Paz a day after his election this past October, conveying Israel’s desire “to open a new chapter” and fully renew diplomatic relations. In turn, Paz stated his intention “to lead Bolivia toward a reopening to the world and reestablishing ties with Israel.”

In November, the Foreign Ministry’s director-general, Eden Bar-Tal, represented Israel at Paz’s inauguration in Bolivia, the statement adds.

Earlier this month, Bolivia announced the cancellation of its visa requirement for Israeli travelers, and over recent weeks of intensive contacts, the countries finalized the agreement to restore ties, the statement continues.

In 2009, under then-president Evo Morales, Bolivia cut ties with Israel in protest of the 2008-2009 Gaza conflicts. Relations were briefly restored in 2019 after Morales’s resignation, but were severed again on October 31, 2023, by President Luis Arce, over Israel’s wartime conduct in Gaza following the Hamas-led invasion and massacre that same month.

Paz, a center-right candidate, took office this year following years of left-wing governments in Bolivia, heralding a shift in policy toward Jerusalem.