After months of antisemitic attacks and lies, Gustavo Petro breaks Colombia's relations with Israel

This Wednesday, May 1, during an official demonstration, the president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, announced the breaking of relations with Israel, whose prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, is accused of genocide in Gaza.

"Here before you, the Government of change, the president, reports that tomorrow diplomatic relations with Israel will be broken for having a genocidal Government," Petro said in front of Plaza Bolívar in Bogotá.

The breakdown of relations seemed imminent after months of tensions between Petro's socialist government and Israel. Petro never condemned the invasion of the terrorist group Hamas against Israel on October 7, when the largest massacres of Jews since the Holocaust were perpetrated.

"Petro wrote or retweeted on his X account more than 100 messages against Israel during the first week after the Hamas terrorist attack. More than ten tweets per day," reads the Los Angeles Times.

"In all his messages on social media, Petro refrained from unequivocally condemning Hamas for what it is: a terrorist group," the newspaper adds.

"Petro, instead of denouncing Hamas for starting this new round of violence, asked both sides to lay down their arms. In other words, he demanded that Israel refrain from exercising its right to self-defense and pursue terrorists to prevent new attacks in the future," says the Los Angeles Times.

On October 15 of last year, Petro called Israel genocidal for its operations in Gaza against the Hamas terrorist group. Also, on his Twitter account, he echoed on countless occasions fake news shared in the context of the war in Gaza.

"The president reposted a video of an activist from the affected region who claimed that bombs with white phosphorus were being used, a fact confirmed by Petro, who held the State of Israel responsible," says a report from November 2 of last year.

However, the video turned out to be fake.

Due to his irrepressible tweeting against Israel, Petro strained relations with the Jewish state last year. Then, he said that "if relationships have to be suspended, they are suspended." The president was involved in several public clashes with the Israeli ambassador to Colombia, Gali Dagan. Dagan ironically criticized Petro in a post: "The Wise Men of Zion founded the Clan del Golfo. There are still Jews, with large, aquiline noses, who command the Gaitanista Self-Defense Forces of Colombia." The ambassador referred to Petro's assertion that Jewish intelligence was responsible for the formation of the Hamas terrorist group.

Petro has been one of the strongest international voices against Israel's right to defense. At the same time, it has been one of the fundamental allies of the Iranian regime and the Palestinian cause. His insistence has been on the ceasefire while continuing to condemn Netanyahu.

In January of this year, after Netanyahu asked Petro in a letter to intercede on behalf of the hostages kidnapped by Hamas and held in captivity in Gaza - since there are several Colombians - the president of Colombia once again insisted on a ceasefire and dismissed the right to defend the Jewish state.

Then, in March of this year, when the United Nations voted on a resolution for a ceasefire in Gaza, the Colombian government threatened Israel with breaking off relations if Netanyahu did not submit to what the countries had agreed to.

Israel Katz, the Jewish chancellor, responded to Petro with the following message: "The president of Colombia's support for Hamas murderers who massacred and committed heinous sexual crimes against babies, women and adults is a shame for the Colombian people. Israel will continue to protect its citizens and will not give in to any pressure or threats."

Tensions remained until, finally, during the Workers' Day march on May 1, Petro announced what he had been wanting to do for months.

"The president of Colombia promised to reward those murdered and raped by Hamas. Today he fulfilled his promise. History will remember that Gustavo Petro decided to side with the most despicable monsters known to humanity," reacted Israeli Foreign Minister Katz.

"Relations between Israel and Colombia have always been warm and no hate-filled, antisemitic president will be able to change that," Katz said.

Republican Florida senator Marco Rubio also reacted to Petro's announcement. On his X account, he wrote, "It is very sad to see how such an incredible country, with fantastic people that has suffered so much at the hands of narcoterrorists is currently governed by a terrorist sympathizer who aspires to be the Colombian Hugo Chávez."

Petro celebrated the march on May 1 in front of a square flooded with M-19 flags. The far-left terrorist group to which the now president belonged when he was young. The M-19 is remembered for being the author of one of the largest terrorist attacks in history when, in the 1980s, the combatants broke into the Palace of Justice and murdered several officials to prevent the extradition of members of the Medellín Cartel, led by Pablo Escobar.