Colombia’s new hard right government has vowed to restore relations with Israel [Getty]

Colombia’s newly appointed hard-right government on Monday recognized Israel’s claim to the occupied Golan Heights, which it captured from Syria in 1967.

The United States was until now the only country to recognize Israel’s annexation of the territory in 1981.

Colombian President Abelardo de la Espriella took power on Friday, following a bombastic campaign during which he promised tight relations with the US and Israel as a way to combat armed groups in his own country.

His foreign ministry announced recognition of Israel’s claim on the same day that a powerful earthquake struck western Colombia, killing at least 111 people and injuring dozens more.

“The Government of Colombia recognizes Israeli sovereignty over this territory, as well as that State’s right to protect itself against external threats,” read a statement published on X.

“Colombia recognizes that maintaining Israel’s control and sovereignty over the Golan Heights is an essential component of its national defense,” it added.

The United Nations and nearly all its member countries recognise that the plateau is Syrian territory under Israeli military occupation.

Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Saar thanked his “good friend” De la Espriella for the recognition.

The pair had agreed on the move in the Colombian city of Barranquilla, he said, one day before De la Espriella’s inauguration.

Last month, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres reiterated that the Golan Heights were part of Syria, describing Israeli occupation as “totally unacceptable.”

De la Espriella’s leftist predecessor Gustavo Petro had ardently criticized Israel’s genocidal war in the Gaza Strip, severing diplomatic relations and halting Israeli arms imports into Colombia.

The US-backed millionaire now in office has promised to restore ties.

Last month, he said he planned to open a Colombian embassy in Jerusalem. Israel illegally annexed the Palestinian eastern half of the city in 1967 and claims that all of Jerusalem is its capital.

This is not recognized internationally, however, and most countries conduct their diplomatic missions from Tel Aviv.