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Chilean Jews condemn far-left president’s decision to break diplomatic ties with Israel

Chile, Bolivia, and Colombia all announced on Tuesday that they were recalling their ambassadors from Tel Aviv.

By Ben Cohen, The Algemeiner

Chile’s Jewish community has denounced the decision of the country’s far-left president, Gabriel Boric, to suspend diplomatic relations with Israel in protest at the ongoing war in Gaza, asserting that “such actions generate antisemitism and fear in the Jewish communities of the diaspora.”

In a statement, the community accused Boric’s government of joining with Iran and Bolivia — which has also broken ties with the Jewish state over its military response to the Oct. 7 Hamas pogrom in southern Israel — in “condemning Israel and ignoring the horrible crimes suffered by its civilian population.” It pointed out that two Chileans are among the more than 200 hostages seized by Hamas terrorists.

Boric’s decision contributed to “antisemitism and fear in the Diaspora Jewish communities. This is something that the president must keep in mind.”

Chile, Bolivia, and Colombia all announced on Tuesday that they were recalling their ambassadors from Tel Aviv, confronting Israel with a new diplomatic crisis in Latin America.

Maria Nela Prada, a spokesperson for Bolivia’s presidency, said her government was demanding “the end of attacks in the Gaza Strip, which have so far led to thousands of civilian deaths, and the forced displacement of Palestinian people,” while Colombian President Gustavo Petro — who caused outrage in the wake of the Hamas pogrom when he compared the Israeli military to Nazis — stated that diplomatic representation in Israel was impossible “if Israel does not stop the massacre of the Palestinian people.”

Commenting on the Bolivian decision, Israel’s foreign ministry charged the government with having “surrendered to terrorism and to the Ayatollah’s regime in Iran.”

It continued: “By taking this step, the Bolivian government is aligning itself with the Hamas terrorist organization.”

In a statement published on X/Twitter on Tuesday evening, Boric confirmed that Chile’s Ambassador in Israel, Jorge Carvajal, had been recalled to Santiago “for consultations.”

“Chile strongly condemns and observes with great concern that these military operations – which at this point in their development entail collective punishment of the Palestinian civilian population in Gaza – do not respect fundamental norms of International Law, as demonstrated by the more than eight thousand civilian victims, mostly women and children,” Boric said, without citing a source for his casualty claims. Casualty figures in Gaza are collated by the Hamas-run Health Ministry, which frequently exaggerates the number of dead and wounded.

Boric has clashed with the Jewish community on several occasions over his inflammatory comments about Israel and Jews. In 2019, while still in opposition, he responded to a gift of a jar of honey from the Jewish community to mark Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year, by tweeting, “The Jewish community of Chile sent me a jar of honey for the Jewish New Year, reaffirming its commitment to ‘a more inclusive, supportive and respectful society.’ I appreciate the gesture, but they could start by asking Israel to return illegally occupied Palestinian territory.”

During his election campaign in 2021, Boric lambasted Israel as a “genocidal and murderous state.” He also drafted legislation in support of the “Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions” (BDS) campaign targeting Israel, winning strong support from the 350,000-strong Palestinian community in Chile — the largest Palestinian diaspora outside of the Middle East and one with heavy political clout.

In Sept. 2022, Boric refused to accept the credentials of Gil Artzyeli, Israel’s newly-appointed envoy to Chile, citing his anger at the shooting of a 17-year-old Palestinian during clashes with the Israeli army in Judea and Samaria.