{"id":93299,"date":"2026-07-17T15:55:15","date_gmt":"2026-07-17T20:55:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/?p=93299"},"modified":"2026-07-17T16:01:19","modified_gmt":"2026-07-17T21:01:19","slug":"colombia-and-slovenia-recently-recognized-a-palestinian-state-now-theyre-moving-their-embassies-to-jerusalem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/colombia-and-slovenia-recently-recognized-a-palestinian-state-now-theyre-moving-their-embassies-to-jerusalem\/","title":{"rendered":"Colombia and Slovenia recently recognized a Palestinian state. Now they\u2019re moving their embassies to Jerusalem."},"content":{"rendered":"

By LARRY LUXNER<\/p>\n

(JTA) \u2014 JERUSALEM \u2014 Colombia, the world\u2019s second most populous Spanish-speaking nation after Mexico, has little in common with landlocked Slovenia, the second-smallest of the six republics that once comprised Yugoslavia.<\/p>\n

But when it comes to their stance on Israel, the parallels are hard to ignore.<\/p>\n

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Margarita Manjarrez, Colombia\u2019s last ambassador to Israel (center) and local officials inaugurate the \u2018Encuentro de Culturas\u2019 mural Sept. 10, 2023, in the Israeli city of Ramle. (Photo courtesyEmbassy of Colombia)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Within one month of each other, leftist, pro-Palestine governments in both countries were voted out of office and replaced by right-wing leaders who vowed not only to restore full diplomatic relations with Israel but also inaugurate embassies in Jerusalem.<\/p>\n

In fact, Colombia\u2019s next foreign minister, Omar Bola Escobar, promised exactly that Wednesday during a meeting in Washington, D.C., with his Israeli counterpart, Gideon Saar. That followed a declaration by President-elect Abelardo de la Espriella that Colombia would establish relations \u201clike never before\u201d with Israel once he takes the oath of office on Aug. 7.<\/p>\n

In June 2024, the parliament of Slovenia \u2014 an Alpine republic of 2.1 million \u2014 voted to recognize a Palestinian state only a week after Spain, Ireland and Norway had done the same thing. But half a year later, it went further. Slovenian public broadcaster RTV, citing the ongoing war in Gaza, became the first in Europe to demand Israel\u2019s exclusion from the 2025 Eurovision Song Contest.<\/p>\n

Then last year, Slovenia under Prime Minister Robert Golob banned all imports from Jewish settlements in the West Bank as well as all weapons trade with Israel \u2014 the first member of the European Union to do so. And this past June, RTV not only boycotted Eurovision altogether but aired films about Palestine instead.<\/p>\n

That anti-Israel campaign made life uncomfortable for the country\u2019s 100 or so Jews, said Robert Waltl, president of the Ljubljana-based Liberal Jewish Community of Slovenia.<\/p>\n

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\u201cFree Gaza\u201d graffiti is scrawled on a metal barrier along a busy street in Ljubljana, Slovenia. (Larry Luxner)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

But on May 22, Janez Jansa \u2014 leader of the Slovenian Democratic Party and an admirer of U.S. President Donald Trump \u2014 formed a winning coalition with other right-wing parties following the country\u2019s parliamentary elections, clearing the way for Jansa to replace Golob as prime minister.<\/p>\n

In a striking about-face, Janza immediately announced that Slovenia would cancel its previous recognition of Palestine and move its embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. That would make it the first country in the 27-member EU to take that step (though not the first country in Europe: Kosovo already has an embassy in Jerusalem).<\/p>\n

Likewise, Israel will open an embassy in Ljubljana for the first time.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s an important and welcome milestone \u2014 and something many of us have hoped to see for a long time,\u201d Waltl explained in an email. \u201cThat said, I still feel it\u2019s too early for me to draw broader conclusions about what this will mean in practice for bilateral relations, or for the Jewish community. I\u2019d rather judge by actions than by first impressions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ernest Herzog, executive director for operations at the World Jewish Congress, said Slovenia\u2019s new direction is a lot more than a foreign policy adjustment; it carries huge historic significance.<\/p>\n

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Robert Waltl stands outside the Jewish Community Center in Ljubljana, Slovenia. (Larry Luxner)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cIsrael was among the first countries to recognize Slovenia\u2019s independence in 1991\u201d following the breakup of Yugoslavia, he said. Opening an embassy in Jerusalem \u201cwould send a clear signal that Slovenia views Israel not only as a key regional partner but also as an important ally in defending the rules-based democratic order at a time of growing geopolitical instability.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Colombia, the shift is even more dramatic. Famous for world-class coffee, salsa dancing, beautiful beaches and biodiversity, it\u2019s home to maybe 5,000 Jews out of 54 million inhabitants.<\/p>\n

President Gustavo Petro \u2014 Colombia\u2019s first left-wing leader in recent memory \u2014 is a former M-19 guerrilla leader. He became mayor of Bogot\u00e1 in 2011 and president in 2022. On May 2, 2024, in the midst of worsening conditions in Gaza, Petro severed diplomatic relations with Israel and stopped lucrative exports of coal to Israel, as well as all weapons deals.<\/p>\n

Margarita Manjarrez, Colombia\u2019s first female ambassador to Israel, stayed on until June 30 of that year, at which point she closed the embassy in Tel Aviv (though consular services remain open).<\/p>\n

Petro, constitutionally limited to one term, backed Iv\u00e1n Cepeda as his successor. But Cepeda lost to right-wing businessman Abelardo de la Espriella by the narrowest margin in Colombian election history.<\/p>\n

Widely supported by Colombia\u2019s small but wealthy Jewish community, the new president will be sworn in Aug. 7. One of his first acts, he said, will be to open an embassy in Jerusalem. That would make it the ninth embassy in Israel\u2019s capital, along with those of the United States, Guatemala, Honduras, Kosovo, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Fiji and Argentina.<\/p>\n

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Margarita Manjarrez, Colombia\u2019s last ambassador to Israel, closed her country\u2019s embassy in Tel Aviv on June 30, 2025. The new government has vowed to reopen it in Jerusalem. (Photo courtesyEmbassy of Colombia)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Manjarrez, now Bogot\u00e1\u2019s ambassador to Singapore, declined to comment. But Harry Toledo, the Israeli-based director of Fuente Latina \u2014 an NGO that provides pro-Israel Middle East coverage for Spanish-language media in the United States and Latin America \u2014 says he\u2019s not surprised by any of this.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think the issue was Israel,\u201d said Toledo, who is originally from Medell\u00edn but has spent the last 24 years living in Tel Aviv. \u201cAs we\u2019ve seen in recent years, all these governments are taking advantage of the situation here to distract from their problems at home. In Spain, we clearly saw that S\u00e1nchez is using the Palestinians to dispel criticism of his own government. Petro in Colombia did the same thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Toledo, one of thousands of Colombians living in Israel, noted that the Trump administration revoked Petro\u2019s U.S. visa last year, and then later added him, his wife, his son and his interior minister to its Specially Designated Nationals list due to their alleged illicit drug trafficking.<\/p>\n

\u201cPetro was a criminal and a genocidal guerrilla. He was a real antisemite who even posted \u2018Heil Hitler\u2019 online,\u201d said Toledo. \u201cIt\u2019s not like he was hiding his position against Jews.\u201d<\/p>\n

Michael Shifter, former president of the Inter-American Dialogue \u2014 a D.C. think tank \u2014 noted that 12 of Latin America\u2019s last 15 elections have been won by right-wing candidates. Voters in only Brazil, Mexico and Uruguay elected leftists.<\/p>\n

Shifter said it\u2019s not so much an ideological conservative turn that\u2019s fueling this wave \u2014 but more a profound desire for change.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe recent electoral swings are better understood as a reflection of widespread frustration with governments of different political stripes that have failed to address persistent economic, security and governance challenges,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Shifter is no stranger to the region. In the early 1980s, when the Dialogue was founded, Latin America\u2019s biggest economies \u2014 Argentina, Brazil and Mexico \u2014 were cash-strapped, debt-ridden and beholden to the IMF. And the United States under President Ronald Reagan was actively supporting the government of El Salvador in its bloody war against leftist insurgents, while at the same time secretly funding contras hoping to overthrow Marxist Sandinistas in neighboring Nicaragua.<\/p>\n

The only country doing well at the time was energy-rich Venezuela \u2014 which today is considered a failed state.<\/p>\n

Mike Skol, a former U.S. ambassador to Venezuela who has extensive business ties in Colombia, said de la Espriella\u2019s election is certainly part of that Latin rightward shift against socialism.<\/p>\n

The question, he poses, is whether he\u2019ll behave more like Argentina\u2019s Javier Milei,  a libertarian who is an outspoken supporter of Israel, or El Salvador\u2019s Nayib Bukele \u2014 a hugely popular president of Palestinian origin who has on more than one occasion called himself \u201cthe world\u2019s coolest dictator.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The entrance to the Jewish Community Center along Krizevniska Street in Ljubljana, Slovenia.(Larry Luxner)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cThe White House is looking for outspoken allies \u2014 on Venezuela, on Cuba, on Israel, and on oil,\u201d Skol said in an email. \u201cExpect Colombia to be unequivocal in all. The payoff will be an important pillar of regime success.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ultimately, the real prize for Israel would be a full restoration of ties with oil-rich Venezuela, which were broken by Hugo Ch\u00e1vez in 2009 following an Israel incursion into Gaza that year. After Trump\u2019s ousting of former president Nicol\u00e1s Maduro last year and his tacit support for Maduro\u2019s successor, Delcy Rodr\u00edguez, anything appears possible.<\/p>\n

Just last week, Rodr\u00edguez was photographed in a once-unthinkable meeting with uniformed IDF brass overseeing Israeli rescue efforts in the wake of two powerful earthquakes that have devastated Venezuela\u2019s coastal region. The 30-member team\u2019s efforts mark a rare diplomatic thaw following years of official Venezuelan hostility toward Israel.<\/p>\n

This raises the inevitable question: Could the Israeli flag one day flutter from an embassy in Caracas?<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, I think it is very possible that Venezuela under Delcy will restore relations with Israel,\u201d Skol said, noting that the U.S. secretary of state is seen as running the show in Venezuela since Maduro\u2019s ouster. \u201cAll Marco Rubio has to do is ask.\u201d<\/p>\n

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