Cooling relations with Israel

Is support fading in Latin America where left-of-centre leaders have taken office in recent years?

On Nov. 29, 1947, the UN General Assembly passed a resolution establishing two states, one Arab and one Jewish, on the territory of the British Mandate for Palestine; thirteen of the then 20 Latin American member nations voted in favour and 18 supported Israel’s admission to the UN in May 1949.

Guatemala recognized Israel three days after its establishment in May 1948, and the other Latin American countries followed suit in 1948 and 1949. But developments in the international arena during the 1960s and 1970s led to a lessening of support for Israel of these countries, mainly at the UN and its affiliated bodies. Leftist regimes in Peru, Chile, Nicaragua, and, most significantly, Cuba, adhered to the nonaligned movement, where radical Arab states pursued anti-Israeli policies.

PINK TIDE

The Arab-Israeli war in 1973 saw further erosion. Three Latin American states broke diplomatic relations with Israel: Cuba in 1973, Guyana in 1974, and Nicaragua in 1982. In the UN General Assembly in November 1975, five Latin American and Caribbean states (Brazil, Cuba, Guyana, Grenada, and Mexico) supported Resolution 3379, which equated Zionism with racism and questioned the moral ground for Israel’s existence.

Things turned around in the 1990s, especially after the demise of the Soviet Union, which had been a major factor in the growth of anti-Zionism. By the early 1990s Israel had 18 embassies in Latin America and hosted 17 Latin American missions.

However, a so-called “pink tide” has seen left-of-centre leaders take office in recent years in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Honduras, Mexico, and Peru. Some of these newly elected governments, who oppose Israel’s policies on the Palestinians and are critical of its continued control of the West Bank, are becoming less friendly to the Jewish state. There has been increased support for the Palestinian cause, particularly in Argentina, Brazil and Chile, home to many citizens of Palestinian Arab origin.

Brazil-Israel relations had improved significantly during the right-wing presidency of Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro, who was elected in 2018. In December 2019, Brazil opened a trade office in Jerusalem. Israel viewed Bolsonaro as a new ally.

“I congratulated him on his victory,” tweeted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. A few weeks later, the Israeli leader flew to Brazil to attend Bolsonaro's inauguration.

CLOSE TIES

Now things have changed. The recent victory of Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva as president will see greater support for the Palestinian cause. He supports unilateral Palestinian statehood, including Ramallah’s bid to become a UN member.

In 2010, during his previous term in office, Lula became modern Brazil’s first head of state to come to Israel. However, he refused to visit the grave of Theodor Herzl, the father of Zionism, in Jerusalem. Days later, though, he laid a wreath at Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat’s grave in Ramallah. Lula also had close ties with Iran, hosting former Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and visiting Tehran.

Running for office again in June last year, Lula stated that “Palestinians deserve our full attention and solidarity.” And he dismissed Brazil’s ambassador to Israel, Gerson Menandro Garcia de Freitas, a Bolsonaro appointee, just days after his inauguration.

Chile is home to the largest Palestinian community outside the Middle East and this is also reflected in its policies. Gabriel Boric Font, who was elected the country’s president in 2021, at first refused to accept the credentials of the new Israeli ambassador, Gil Artzyeli, last September.

According to reports this was because of his anger at Israeli military operations in Gaza a month earlier. Artzyeli had been scheduled to present his credentials to Boric as a formality, but the Chilean government informed him that the ceremony had been cancelled because of Israel “killing children in Gaza.”

‘BIZARRE BEHAVIOUR’

Subsequently, Chilean Foreign Minister Ximena Fuentes Torrijo apologized to Director-General Alon Ushpiz of Israel’s Foreign Ministry. As well, Israel summoned Chile’s ambassador Jorge Carvajal to Jerusalem for a reprimand, calling Chile’s behaviour “bizarre and unprecedented.”

Boric has a tense relationship with Chile’s 18,000 Jews and has encouraged them to lobby for Israeli territorial concessions. On the other hand, Palestinian officials and supporters welcomed Boric’s announcement Dec. 21 at a ceremony with Palestinians that his country will open an embassy in the West Bank.

Colombia’s new president, Gustavo Petro, elected last year, has blamed Israel for the brutal suppression of Communist insurgents and individuals in his country during the Cold War.

“The state of Israel discriminates against Palestinians like the Nazis discriminate against Jews,” he also asserted.

The current wave of left-wing governments sweeping Latin America bodes ill for Israel politically.