Since diplomatic relations were established at the end of the 1950s, Israel and Colombia have maintained deep ties in numerous areas. Israel is Colombia's main commercial and political partner in the Middle East and our country constitutes a pillar of the relations that Jerusalem maintains with Latin America.
Colombia was one of the countries that sold weapons to Israel shortly after its independence. Our country, with the Colombia 3 battalion, is part of the Multinational Observer Force that was established in Sinai in 1982, after the signing of the peace agreements between Israel and Egypt, and the intense military and intelligence cooperation is well known. From Israel to Colombia, together with the United States, in the fight against terrorism, organized crime and cybercrimes.
Israel and Colombia signed a state-of-the-art free trade agreement in 2013, which came into force in 2020 and includes, in addition to tariff-free products, investment facilities and joint ventures. According to the Colombian-Israeli Chamber of Commerce, last year Colombian exports to Israel amounted to more than US $1 billion, including agricultural and energy products, almost tripling those of the previous year, as a result of the FTA. Colombia has also benefited from foreign direct investment from the Jewish State.
Israel is a world leader in several issues on President Gustavo Petro's agenda, such as water conservation, sustainable agriculture, renewable energy, climate change, and the environment. At the last COP27 summit in Egypt, Petro held a bilateral meeting with the president of Israel, Yitzhak Herzog. In her recent visit to Israel, the Minister of Housing of Colombia, Catalina Velasco had the opportunity to see the Sorek misalignment plant, the largest in the world, which uses technology that could be applied in Colombia in regions with water scarcity.
Thousands of Colombians have benefited from academic scholarships in Israel in diverse topics, while the extensive cultural exchange program includes the presence of Israel in film, theater, and music festivals in our country, as well as singers of the caliber of Juanes, Carlos Vives, and Maluma have performed with great success in Israel.
The two countries also maintain an extensive tourist exchange with open borders and no visa requirements. Tens of thousands of Colombian Catholic and Christian pilgrims travel to Israel every year, as do academics and students, while our country receives thousands of visitors from the Jewish State.
Two living and dynamic democracies, Israel and Colombia, members of the OECD, the club of “good practices”, countries embroiled in long conflicts, but that have never abandoned the search for peace, have established a diplomatic relationship based on common values, friendship, if it exists between States, and varied interests, which transcend the vagaries of the different governments.
A mutually beneficial relationship that must be preserved at all costs.
This article was originally published in Spanish by El Espectador.
