Israel, Bolivia renew diplomatic ties after 2 years of suspension over Gaza war

By Betul Yilmaz

ISTANBUL (AA) - Israel and Bolivia renewed diplomatic relations after two years of severance over the Gaza war, according to a statement by the Israeli Foreign Ministry on Wednesday.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar and his Bolivian counterpart Fernando Aramayo on Tuesday signed a joint declaration in Washington to formally reestablish diplomatic ties.

Ambassadors will be appointed in the near future, Saar said.

Last week, Bolivia announced the removal of visa requirements for US and Israeli citizens.

The latest moves came after Bolivia’s center-right Rodrigo Paz took presidential office in November, ending nearly two decades of left-wing rule in the country.

Bolivia cut diplomatic ties with Tel Aviv in 2009 in response to Israeli military operations in Gaza in 2008-2009. The relations, which were briefly restored in 2019, were suspended once again in 2023 due to Israeli war crimes in the Gaza Strip.

Several Latin American countries, including Colombia, Brazil, Chile, Cuba, Belize, and Nicaragua, severed ties with Israel on varying diplomatic, economic, and military levels in protest of its genocidal war in Gaza.

Since October 2023, the Israeli army has killed more than 70,000 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, and injured over 171,000 others in a brutal assault that also left the enclave in ruins.