The chancellor in charge, Luis Gilberto Murillorevealed that the Government had been studying “for a long time” the decision to break diplomatic relations with Israel, announced on Wednesday by President Gustavo Petro for what he called “genocide” against the Palestinians.
“We have been studying this for a long time, the president spoke out since October of last year about this possibility because the behavior of the Government of Israel in what is happening in Gaza is obviously unacceptable,” Murillo told reporters in Bogotá.
Petro, a firm defender of the Palestinian cause, announced on Wednesday in his speech before the workers gathered in the Plaza de Bolívar in Bogotá for May Day, that he would break diplomatic relations with Israel.
“Here before you, the Government of change, the president of the republic, informs that tomorrow diplomatic relations will be broken with the State of Israel (…) for having a Government, for having a genocidal president,” said the president. .
In that sense, Murillo recalled that on March 25, the UN Security Council approved for the first time and after four previous failed attempts a resolution in which it unequivocally requests a ceasefire in the Gaza war, which has caused the death of more than 34,000 people.
The Council then called for “an immediate ceasefire during the month of Ramadan (which ended on April 9) leading to a lasting ceasefire”, while calling for – but not binding – “the immediate and unconditional release of all the hostages” in the hands of Hamas.
“The president was clear that if that resolution was not fulfilled, we were going to move to that next stage. It was not fulfilled, it was waited,” Murillo added today.
For this reason, the Government will inform the Israeli embassy in Bogotá today of the extent of the rupture of diplomatic relations, but stressed that it is not directed against the Israeli people or against the Jewish community.
Petro’s decision to break diplomatic relations with Israel, welcomed by the Islamist group Hamas and appreciated by the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, has caused harsh criticism and concern about the impact it will have on political, economic and commercial relations between the two countries.
Murillo also recalled that the Government “has condemned and rejected the actions” of Hamas, which “have been characterized as barbaric.”