On Tuesday (31st October), Bolivia became the first Latin American country to sever its diplomatic ties with the Jewish state Israel amid its ongoing war against Hamas terrorists. Apparently, the latest move by Bolivia has triggered a coercive response against Israel from several leftist governments around the world prompting the Israeli government to condemn its move. After Bolivia’s announcement to cut ties, Chile and Columbia also declared that they were recalling their ambassadors from Israel.
Bolivia’s decision ‘a surrender to terrorism’, says Israel
Retorting to Bolivia’s decision to cut diplomatic ties, Israel likened it to “a surrender to terrorism and to the Ayatollah’s regime in Iran.”
The spokesperson for Israeli Foreign Minister Lior Haiat tweeted, “By taking this step the Bolivian government is aligning itself with the Hamas terrorist organisation, which slaughtered over 1,400 Israelis and abducted 240 people, including children, women, babies, and the elderly.”
He added, “Israel condemns Bolivia’s ‘support of terrorism’ and its submission to the Iranian regime, which attest to the values the government of Bolivia represents.”
However, he noted that bilateral relations had been “devoid of content” anyway since the current government came into power.
Meanwhile, on Tuesday (31st October), Hamas hailed Bolivia’s decision stating, “it holds it in high esteem”. It also urged Arab countries that have normalised their relations with Israel to do the same.
Bolivia accuses Israel of committing “crimes against humanity in Gaza’, refrains from condemning 7th October Hamas terror attacks
Earlier, the Bolivian government announced that it is cutting off diplomatic ties with Israel accusing it of carrying out “crimes against humanity” in Gaza. The Bolivian officials rationalised their response citing a large number of Palestinian casualties in Gaza as a result of Israeli airstrikes and ground offensive in the Palestinian enclave. However, their response made no mention of the deadly 7th October terror attack on Israel by Hamas terrorists that triggered this latest cycle of war in the region.
At a news conference, Bolivia’s deputy foreign minister, Freddy Mamani said, “Bolivia decided to break diplomatic relations with the State of Israel in repudiation and condemnation of the aggressive and disproportionate Israeli military offensive taking place in the Gaza Strip.”
Additionally, Bolivia’s minister of the presidency who is acting foreign minister, María Nela Prada accused Israel of “committing crimes against humanity in the Gaza Strip against the Palestinian people.” She called on Israel to “cease attacks in the Gaza Strip that have already resulted in thousands of civilian casualties and the forced displacement of Palestinians.”
Prada added that Bolivia “rejects the Israeli hostile treatment of international actors providing humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip.” Subsequently, she announced that Bolivia would send aid to the Gaza Strip without elaborating details about what that could entail.
Continuing with a pattern for the Bolivian government that never condemned the 7th October Hamas assault, neither Prada nor Mamani mentioned the Hamas terror attacks on Israel, the Times of Israel reported.
The Israeli media reports highlight that on 7th October, the Bolivian Foreign Ministry said only that it had “deep concern over the violent events that occurred in the Gaza Strip between Israel and Palestine.” Later, on 18th October, it condemned Israeli attacks and emphasised its “solidarity and unwavering support for the Palestinian people.”
The Bolivian now led by leftist President Luis Arce, has long been critical of Israel. Previously in 2009, it severed diplomatic ties with Israel over a war against Hamas in Gaza which was later reestablished in 2020.
Following a meeting with Palestinian Ambassador to Bolivia Mahmoud Elalwani, Bolivian President Arce expressed his solidarity with the Palestinian people.
Taking to X, he said, “We cannot remain silent and continue to allow the suffering of the Palestinian people, especially of the children, who have the right to live in peace. We condemn the war crimes being committed in Gaza.”
Chile, China, and Columbia: Leftists governments add woes to Israel
Apart from Bolivia’s announcement, Chile and Colombia informed that they have recalled their ambassadors to the Jewish state as they criticised offensive retaliation by the Israeli military against Hamas terrorists.
Calling for “an immediate end to hostilities”, Chile condemned Israel’s operations arguing that they “constitute collective punishment against the Palestinian civilian population in Gaza.”
Just like Bolivia, Chile also made no mention of the 7th October Hamas terror attacks on Israel.
In a statement, the South American country’s Foreign Ministry said that Chile has decided to recall its ambassador “in the face of the unacceptable violations of international humanitarian law committed by Israel in the Gaza Strip.” The statement was also shared on X by its President Gabriel Boric.
Similarly, Colombian President, Gustavo Petro, also announced that he was recalling his country’s ambassador to Israel. Taking to X, Petro tweeted, “If Israel does not stop the massacre of the Palestinian people, we cannot remain there.”
It is important to note that all the three nations – Bolivia, Chile, and Colombia, that have recently taken coercive steps against Israel have leftist governments.
Meanwhile, on 31st October, the communist country in Asia, China also joined in taking anti-Israel steps. Evidently, several top Chinese tech companies including Alibaba and Baidu dropped Israel’s official name from their digital maps that are available online.
The development comes at a time when the Chinese internet is flooded with antisemitism content amidst the war between the Jewish country – Israel, and the Islamist terror outfit Hamas. On Monday (30th October), US media outlet, Wall Street Journal first reported that Baidu and Alibaba no longer referred to Israel by name.
The WSJ reported, “Baidu’s Chinese language online maps demarcate the internationally recognized borders of Israel, as well as the Palestinian territories, plus key cities, but don’t clearly identify the country by name.”