Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar met with Colombian President-elect Abelardo de la Espriella on Thursday, one day before his inauguration, as the two countries prepared for a sweeping restoration of diplomatic, economic and security ties after more than two years of strained relations.
Sa’ar was invited to a private meeting and lunch at de la Espriella’s office in Barranquilla. The talks lasted nearly three hours and focused on practical steps to strengthen bilateral diplomatic, security and economic cooperation, according to Israel’s Foreign Ministry.
“My friend, Abelardo de la Espriella, who will be sworn in today as president of Colombia, is a determined and inspiring leader,” Sa’ar wrote on X on Friday.
“His election is great news for his country, but also for relations between Israel and Colombia,” he continued, describing de la Espriella as “a great friend of the Jewish people and the State of Israel.”
“The golden age in relations between Colombia and Israel begins today,” Sa’ar wrote.
During Thursday’s meeting, Sa’ar thanked the president-elect for his decision to relocate Colombia’s embassy in Israel to Jerusalem.
“You have laid a brick in the walls of Jerusalem,” Sa’ar told him.
The foreign minister is representing Israel at de la Espriella’s inauguration in Cali on Friday.
The meeting was the second between the two men, following talks in Buenos Aires in November 2025.
It came two weeks after Sa’ar met Colombia’s incoming foreign minister, Omar Bula, in Washington, where the two men agreed on a roadmap to rapidly restore bilateral relations once de la Espriella assumed office.
The measures include the immediate restoration of full diplomatic relations and the appointment of ambassadors, the lifting of visa requirements between the two countries and the relocation of Colombia’s embassy to Jerusalem.
The incoming Colombian government has also pledged to resume coal exports to Israel, which were halted under outgoing President Gustavo Petro, and to reverse Bogotá’s support for international legal and diplomatic initiatives targeting the Jewish state.
According to the Israeli Foreign Ministry, Colombia intends to withdraw its support for South Africa’s case against Israel at the International Court of Justice and leave the Hague Group.
The moves represent a dramatic reversal from the policies of Petro, who severed diplomatic ties with Israel during the war against Hamas in Gaza and repeatedly criticized the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Colombia had long been considered one of Israel’s closest partners in Latin America, maintaining extensive cooperation in trade, agriculture and security before relations deteriorated under Petro.
De la Espriella’s election signals a return to that partnership. During his campaign, he pledged to restore ties with Israel and move Colombia’s embassy to Jerusalem.
Sa’ar has designated 2026 as a year of strategic focus for deepening Israel’s relations with Latin America. His visit to Colombia follows an official trip to Ecuador this week—the first by an Israeli foreign minister in 44 years—where the two countries signed a memorandum of understanding on counter-terrorism cooperation and agreed to expand trade, innovation and agricultural ties.
