Colombia inaugurated its embassy in Jerusalem on 14 October, becoming the 10th country with an embassy in the city, as its new government reverses the rupture with Israel imposed by the former president Gustavo Petro.
Colombia inaugurated its embassy to Israel in Jerusalem on Wednesday, 14 October 2026, according to Al Jazeera, becoming the tenth country to have an embassy in the city. The ceremony was attended by the Colombian Foreign Minister Omar Bula Escobar and his Israeli counterpart Gideon Sa’ar.
The move reverses the policy of the previous president. Gustavo Petro cut diplomatic ties with Israel in 2024 over the war in Gaza, according to Al Jazeera. His successor, Abelardo de la Espriella, a conservative who was sworn in as president in August 2026, has restored relations and reinstated a free trade agreement between the two countries that Petro had ended.
Colombian officials presented the embassy as a restoration. Bula Escobar said that relations “should never have been broken” and called Israel a strategic partner, and Colombia’s ambassador, Tania Gilinski, echoed that description, according to the report.
The decision was condemned. The Palestinian Authority called it a violation of international legitimacy resolutions, and Jordan’s government said it violated international law, according to Al Jazeera. The status of Jerusalem is disputed: Israel claims the whole city as its capital, and Palestinians see East Jerusalem as the capital of a future state. The sources reviewed do not set out the United Nations’ position.
Few countries have taken the step. Since the United States moved its embassy to Jerusalem in 2018, only a handful of countries, including Guatemala, Honduras and Paraguay, have followed, according to the report. The Media Line and the Jerusalem Post both describe Colombia as the tenth country with an embassy in the city, and the sources reviewed do not list all ten.
The opening comes as Israel faces international pressure over the war in Gaza. Al Jazeera says that attacks over three years have killed more than 74,000 people in Gaza, a figure that is the outlet’s own and has not been verified by Delima News. Delima News has also reported on the anniversary of the Gaza ceasefire and on the Israeli election set for 27 October.
De la Espriella took office in August, so the embassy opened within about two months of his inauguration, and a search summary of the Rio Times describes it as the fulfilment of one of his campaign promises. Petro’s break with Israel in 2024 and the end of the trade agreement were among the most visible parts of his foreign policy, according to the reports.
The Al Jazeera report does not say when the free trade agreement was reinstated, what it covers or what the value of trade between the two countries is, so none of those details are given here.
The sources reviewed do not report the reaction of other Latin American governments or of the European Union, and do not say whether Colombia will face consequences for the decision.
Delima News will report further reaction if governments or the United Nations respond.
Image: The Old City of Jerusalem (file photo). Photo: Britchi Mirela / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
