Photo: REPÚBLICA DE COLOMBIA / flickr (PDM 1.0)
Former Colombian President Gustavo Petro publicly condemned his country’s decision to restore diplomatic ties with Israel, saying the move while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu remains in power “applauds the Gaza genocide.”
Colombia’s new right-wing government renewed the relationship two years after Petro, a leftist, severed diplomatic relations with Israel. Petro had broken ties during his presidency over Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, making Colombia one of several Latin American nations to cut or downgrade relations with the Israeli government during the conflict.
The restoration of ties represents a sharp foreign policy reversal under Colombia’s current right-wing administration, which took a different stance on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict than its predecessor. Petro’s remarks frame the decision as a moral failure, tying it directly to Netanyahu’s leadership and the ongoing crisis in Gaza.
The dispute highlights how the war in Gaza continues to reshape diplomatic alignments well beyond the Middle East, with Latin American governments divided along ideological lines over their relationships with Israel. Colombia’s shift is among the most prominent reversals, given the country’s size and regional influence.
It was not immediately clear whether Petro’s criticism would generate broader political pressure on the current Colombian government to reconsider the restored relationship.