Colombian embassy to open in Jerusalem, Israeli FM says

Israel announced that Colombia will open an embassy in Jerusalem next week, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said at a conference in Jerusalem. Saar said the inauguration is scheduled for next Wednesday, and an official at Colombia’s Foreign Ministry in Bogota told AFP that Foreign Minister Omar Bula Escobar will travel to Jerusalem on Sunday ahead of the opening. The move follows a restoration of diplomatic relations between Colombia and Israel after President Abelardo De la Espriella, who took office in August, campaigned on deepening ties with Israel. Colombia had previously cut diplomatic links with Israel in protest over its military campaign in Gaza, and the new government’s decision to re-establish relations has sparked domestic opposition. Protesters rallied in Bogota this week against the government’s policy toward Israel and the decision to open an embassy in Jerusalem. Demonstrators cited Colombia’s earlier break in relations as a statement that the country would not be complicit in actions they described as atrocities in Palestine; opponents say the new administration has abandoned that stance. Saar framed the embassy openings as part of a broader diplomatic push, saying Jerusalem has long been Israel’s capital and noting that several other countries have placed missions there since 2018, including the United States, Guatemala, Paraguay, Kosovo, Honduras, Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Nauru and Somaliland. He also said the Democratic Republic of the Congo plans to open its embassy in Jerusalem "very soon" and suggested that developments in Brazil’s election could lead to a similar move there.