Colombia Recognizes Israel’s 1981 Annexation of Golan Heights

Gustavo Petro was a former leftist guerrilla who served as president of Colombia from 2022 to August 7, 2026. During that time, he was unremittingly hostile toward Israel, cutting diplomatic ties in May 2024 after repeatedly accusing the Israeli government of genocide during the conflict in Gaza. He frequently used intense language on social media and on international forums, comparing Israeli actions to Nazi atrocities and drawing sharp rebukes from Israeli officials and Jewish organizations. He shifted Colombia’s alignment at the International Court of Justice, supporting the issuance of arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and halted security/military exchanges with Israel.

But Petro lost the last election, and as of August 7 was replaced by the newly inaugurated President Abelardo de la Espriella of the center-right, who moved immediately to reverse these policies. The new administration announced the complete restoration of economic and diplomatic ties with Israel, the withdrawal of legal cases at The Hague, and plans to relocate Colombia’s embassy to Jerusalem.

More on what a change in Colombia’s president means for Israel can be found here: “Colombia becomes second country to recognize Israeli sovereignty over Golan Heights, joining US,” by Goldie Katz, Jerusalem Post, August 10, 2026:

Colombia has recognized Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights, the country’s Foreign Ministry announced on Monday.

In a statement released on X/Twitter, the ministry stated that it recognizes Israeli control over the area as “an essential component of its national defense and its ability to protect and safeguard its citizens.”

The recognition resulted from a commitment made by both Israel and Colombia on Saturday, the ministry said.

In its declaration, Bogota became only the second UN member state to recognize Israeli sovereignty over the territory captured from Syria in 1967 and effectively annexed by Israel in 1981, after the United States recognized Israeli sovereignty in 2019 during US President Donald Trump’s first term in office.

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar thanked Colombian President Álvaro [sic] de la Espriella for the move and Colombian Foreign Minister Omar Bola Escobar for his cooperation on the matter.

“Israel is a small country without strategic depth. Defensible borders are essential to ensure the continued existence of the Jewish people in their historic homeland,” the foreign minister wrote on his social media accounts.

“I will continue working to see more countries join the United States, under President Trump’s leadership, and Colombia, under President de la Espriella’s leadership, in recognizing Israeli sovereignty over the Golan, to which Israeli law was extended 45 years ago.”

Sa’ar also praised the recognition as a show of the newly-elected Espriella’s leadership, values, and commitment to Israel, coming in the wake of the foreign minister’s recent visit to South America.America.

What a difference a change in the Colombian president has made. From being one of Israel’s most ferocious critics under Gustavo Petro, Colombia under his successor Abelardo de la Espriella has now become one of the Jewish state’s closest supporters and allies. And it is now the first country, other than the United States, to recognize the necessity for Israel, so small and so embattled, without any strategic depth, to permanently hold — that is, to annex — the Golan, that three times (in 1948, 1967, and 1973) was the place from which the Syrian army launched attacks on Israel.