Bogotá — The government of Israel has announced the suspension of exports of security equipment to Colombia in retaliation for the “hostile and anti-Semitic statements” by Colombian President Gustavo Petro, who has equated Israeli actions in the Gaza Strip with those of Nazi Germany.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry summoned Colombian ambassador Margarita Manjarrez to personally convey to her the country’s stance, and which implies a review of the cooperation between the two countries.
At the meeting, the Israeli government made clear its “astonishment” at the way Petro had reacted to the “savage terrorist attack” perpetrated by Hamas in southern Israel earlier this month, according to a statement released on social networks by Israeli ambassador to Colombia Gali Dagan.
For Israel, Petro’s statements imply “support for the atrocities committed by terrorists” and “threaten the peace of the Jewish community in Colombia”, so “as a first measure” exports related to security have been suspended.
Petro, however, stated that he wants to be “on the right side of history”, and on Sunday he wrote on X (formerly Twitter) that “if diplomatic relations with Israel are broken off, they are broken off. We do not support genocides”, and called for solidarity from other Latin American countries with Colombia.
Petro has also offered to send humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip via Egypt.