Self-declared Bolivian government restores ties with Israel

Self-declared interim President Jeanine Añez during a press conference at the Bolivian Palace of Government on November 24, 2019 in La Paz , Bolivia. (Photo by Gaston Brito Miserocchi/GETTY IMAGES)

Written by: Aidan Jonah

Bolivia’s “interim government” announced plans to restore diplomatic ties with Israel at a press conference with foreign media on Thrursday.

Bolivian Foreign Minister Karen Longaric stated: "We are going to restore relations with Israel." 

Longaric said that diplomatic ties will resume "out of respect for the sovereignty of the state, cordiality and that relations could lead to positive aspects for both sides and contribute to Bolivian 
tourism."

The move comes over two weeks after Morales, Bolivia's first Indigenous president, was forced out by a military coup that brought right-wing Senator Jeanine Añez to power.

This was a complete change from the foreign policy of Evo Morales’ democratically elected government. Bolivia severed diplomatic ties with Israel in January 2009 over its three-week military offensive in Gaza. In 2010, his government formally recognized Palestine as an independent and sovereign state within the 1967 borders.

"Bolivia had diplomatic relations with Israel. [But] considering these grave attacks against...humanity, Bolivia will stop having diplomatic relations with Israel," Morales said in a 2009 speech before diplomats in the government palace.

According to Hareetz, Israeli Foreign Minister Yisrael Katz welcomed Bolivia's decision to restore relations with Israel, saying it "will contribute to the strengthening of the country's foreign relations and its standing in the world."

Katz stated "the Foreign Ministry has been working for a long time directly as well as through mediation of the Brazilin president to promote the renewal of relations, adding that "I've recently discussed the matter with the Brazilian foreign minister at the UN General Assembly in New York."

"The resignation of President Morales, who was hostile to Israel, and his replacement with a friendly administration, has enabled the process to come to fruition," Katz said.