Israeli ambassador is urged to return home – Minister

The ambassador of Israel should “apologise and leave,” according to Bogota’s top diplomat, following criticism of the president of the Latin American nation.

Alvaro Leyva, the foreign minister of Colombia, criticised Gustavo Petro’s stance on the IDF-Hamas fighting in Gaza and demanded that Gali Dagan, the Israeli ambassador in Bogota, “apologise and leave the country.” However, the minister cautioned Dagan to respect the president of the host nation as is customary in diplomatic ties despite the fact that the envoy won’t be removed.

On Sunday, Dagan responded to Petro’s post on X (previously Twitter), in which the Colombian asserted that the Israeli intelligence organisation Mossad had created the Palestinian militant group Hamas. The envoy jokingly wrote, “It is true.” I would like to share with you further information from our top-notch intelligence services, which include: The Gulf Clan was started by the Elders of Zion. There are still Jews in charge of Colombia’s Gaitanista Self-Defense Forces, and they have huge, aquiline noses.

The hostile diplomatic standoff between the two countries started a day after October 7, when the Palestinian armed group Hamas surprised Israeli military and civilian targets from Gaza and kidnapped dozens of people. Israel responded by attacking the enclave with retaliatory airstrikes.

Petro noted in his response to X regarding the escalation that he had studied the Gaza crisis since he was young and was aware that the Palestinian people had experienced “immense injustice.” The leader of South America stated that “neo-Nazis” now want to “destruction of the Palestinian people, freedom, and culture.”

READ ALSO: Israeli minister: “No water for Gaza”

Israel declared a “total” blockade of Gaza on October 9 that included an embargo on food, fuel, and power. According to Israel’s defence minister, his nation is battling “beastly people.”

The president of Colombia responded by writing, “This is what the Nazis said about the Jews,” adding that “democratic societies cannot allow Nazism to reestablish itself in international politics” and that a rhetoric of hatred would result in “a holocaust.”

When Israel openly denounced Petro’s words on Sunday, the conflict between Colombia and Israel grew more heated. The country’s foreign ministry issued a statement saying that Petro’s remarks “inflame antisemitism, harm representatives of the State of Israel, and threaten the safety of the Jewish community in Colombia.”

Margarita Manjarrez, the ambassador of Colombia to Israel, was called in for an official reprimand, at which she was informed that the two nations’ defence cooperation would be discontinued. One of the major exporters of weapons to Bogota for use against rebel groups and drug cartels has been Israel.

The following day, Petro posted on X in response to Israel’s decision to halt security supplies to Colombia, saying “If we must suspend diplomatic relations with Israel, then that is what we will do.” Furthermore, he urged Latin America to “show solidarity” with his nation.

Days of battle have been brought on by Gaza’s sudden rocket and ground attack on Israel. In response, Israel has launched retaliatory airstrikes on the Palestinian territory and vowed to destroy Hamas. Approximately 1,400 deaths have been reported by Israeli authorities, whereas more than 2,800 have been documented in Gaza by the Palestinian Health Ministry.