President Gustavo Petro’s decision to sever ties between Colombia and Israel triggered mixed reactions, most notably from western Asia.
Israel’s Foreign Minister Israel Katz said that Petro had “complied with his promise” to “award the murderers and rapists” of Palestinian armed group Hamas.
History will remember that Gustavo Petro decided to side with the most despicable monsters known to mankind who burned babies, murdered children, raped women and kidnapped innocent civilians.
Foreign Minister Israel Katz
Palestine’s President Mahmoud Abbas thanked Colombia “for being on the right side of history.”
I would like to thank my dear friend Gustavo Petro for cutting diplomatic ties with Israel entirely. You were able to do what I haven’t.
President Mahmoud Abbas
In Colombia, Petro’s decision was praised by coalition politicians and condemned by far-right members of the congressional opposition.
According to coalition Senator Ivan Cepeda , “it was about time” to break ties with Israel because of the ‘genocide” in the occupied Palestinian territory around the Mediterranean city of Gaza.
It’s about time, please. After so much genocide in Gaza where they are looking to wipe out the Palestinians, the president is absolutely right to make this decision, we absolutely support him.
Senator Ivan Cepeda
Members of far-right opposition party Democratic Center rejected the decision because of the possible negative effects on bilateral trade and security cooperation.
This decision will affect not only security but also the national economy, putting at risk more than 1 billion dollars in exports from the industrial and agro-industrial sectors, and investments in our country in the technology and cybersecurity sectors, among others.
House Representative Juan Espinal
The Confederation of the Jewish Communities of Colombia said to “deeply regret” the president’s announcement, claiming that Israel was at war with a “terrorist organization that seeks its destruction.”
We deeply regret the announcement by President Gustavo Petro to break diplomatic relations with the State of Israel, a friendly country that finds itself in a war situation it never wanted and that has 133 of its children, including a Colombian, kidnapped for more than 200 days by the Hamas terrorist organization that seeks its destruction.
Confederation of the Jewish Communities of Colombia
The Jewish organization said it rejected Petro’s claim that the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was committing a genocide in the Gaza Strip.
