After Colombia, now Turkey: Which other nations have cut ties with Israel over Gaza war?

Colombia has announced that it is cutting ties with Israel over the Gaza war.

The country’s president Gustavo Petro has denounced Israel’s actions as a ‘genocide’ and said his government would end diplomatic relations.

“Here in front of you, the government of change, of the president of the republic announces that tomorrow we will break diplomatic relations with the state of Israel … for having a government, for having a president who is genocidal,” Petro said.

Petro previously slammed Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and requested to join South Africa’s case accusing Israel of genocide at the International Court of Justice.

Countries cannot be passive in the face of events in Gaza, he added.

Israel’s foreign minister Israel Katz accused Petro of being “antisemitic and full of hate”.

He said Petro’s move was a reward to the armed group Hamas, which on 7 October led a deadly attack on Israeli military bases and communities.

But which nations have broken off relations with Israel? And what impact will it have?

Colombia

Colombia and Israel have signed dozens of agreements on wide-ranging issues, including education and trade, since they established diplomatic relations in 1957. But nothing links them closer than military contracts.

Colombia’s fighter jets are all Israeli-built.

The more than 20 Kfir Israeli-made fighter jets were used by its air force in numerous attacks on remote guerrilla camps that debilitated the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia. The attacks helped push the rebel group into peace talks that resulted in its disarmament in 2016.

But the fleet, purchased in the late 1980s, is aging and requires maintenance, which can only be carried out by an Israeli firm. Manufacturers in France, Sweden and the United States have approached Colombia’s government with replacement options, but the spending priorities of Petro’s administration are elsewhere.

Colombia’s military also uses Galil rifles, which were designed in Israel and for which Colombia acquired the rights to manufacture and sell. Israel also assists the South American country with its cybersecurity needs.

It remains unclear how the military contracts will be affected.

Colombia’s Foreign Ministry said Thursday in a statement that “all communications related to this announcement will be made through established official channels and will not be public.” The ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press, while the Israeli Embassy in Bogota declined to address the issue.

However, a day before Petro announced his decision, Colombian defence minister Iván Velásquez told lawmakers that no new contracts will be signed with Israel, though existing ones will be fulfilled, including those for maintenance for the Kfir fighters and one for missile systems.

Velásquez said the government has established a “transition” committee that would seek to “diversify” suppliers to avoid depending on Israel. He added that one of the possibilities under consideration is the development of a rifle by the Colombian military industry to replace the Galil.

Security cooperation has been at the center of tensions between the two countries. Israel said in October that it would halt security exports to Colombia after Petro refused to condemn Hamas’ 7 October attack on southern Israel that triggered the war and compared Israel’s actions in Gaza to those of Nazi Germany. In February, Petro announced the suspension of arms purchases from Israel.

For retired General Guillermo León, former commander of the Colombian air force, the country’s military capabilities will be affected if Petro’s administration breaks its contract obligations or even if it complies with them but refuses to sign new ones.

“At the end of the year, maintenance and spare parts run out, and from then on, the fleet would rapidly enter a condition where we would no longer have the means to sustain it,” he told AP.

“This year, three aircraft were withdrawn from service due to compliance with their useful life cycle.”

A free trade agreement between Colombia and Israel went into effect in August 2020. Israel now buys one per cent of Colombia’s total exports, which include coal, coffee and flowers.

According to Colombia’s Ministry of Commerce, exports to Israel last year totaled $499 million, which represents a drop of 53 per cent from 2022.

Colombia’s imports from Israel include electrical equipment, plastics and fertilisers.

Neither government has explained whether the diplomatic feud will affect the trade agreement.

Turkey

According to Bloomberg, Turkey has paused all trade with Israel.

Ankara said it was doing so until Israel allows ‘uninterrupted and sufficient flow’ of humanitarian aid into Gaza.

This comes a month after it restricted some Turkish exports to Israel citing the “worsening humanitarian tragedy in Palestine.”

“The second phase of the measures taken at the state level has been started, and export and import transactions related to Israel have been suspended to cover all products,” the statement read. “Turkey will firmly and decisively implement these new measures until the government of Israel allows an uninterrupted and sufficient flow of humanitarian aid to Gaza.”

The outlet quoted the Turkish Statistical Institute as saying that trade between the two nations was valued at $6.8 billion in 2023.

Of that, 76 per cent was Turkish exports.

Israel’s imports from Turkey, which included steel, machinery, minerals, fuels, fresh produce and food products, amounted to $4.6 billion.

Turkey last year was Israel’s sixth largest import source, as per Israel’s Central Statistics Bureau.

Like Colombia, Turkey too has asked to join South Africa’s case against Israel at the ICC.

The head of a group of industrialists in Israel demanded that the government impose a 100 per cent tariff on all Turkish imports for the next three years.

“This is the only way for Erdogan to understand that he cannot toy with us and that his actions will have long-term consequences,”  Ron Tomer, president of the Manufacturers’ Association of Israel, told Bloomberg.

Tormer suggested Israel consider banning some imports and that it do all it can to ‘break its dependence’ on Turkey.

Bolivia

Bolivia in October said it had broken diplomatic ties with Israel because of its attacks on the Gaza Strip.

Bolivia “decided to break diplomatic relations with the Israeli state in repudiation and condemnation of the aggressive and disproportionate Israeli military offensive taking place in the Gaza Strip,” Deputy foreign minister Freddy Mamani said at a press conference.

“We reject the war crimes being committed in Gaza. We support international initiatives to guarantee humanitarian aid, in compliance with international law,” Bolivian president Arce said on social media on Monday.

Bolivia previously cut diplomatic ties with Israel in 2009 under the government of leftist President Evo Morales, also in protest against Israel’s actions in Gaza.

In 2020, the government of right-wing interim president Jeanine Anez reestablished ties.

Belize

Axios reported that Belize in November called for an ‘immediate ceasefire’ while announcing it was suspending diplomatic ties.

Belize also withdrawing the appointment of its Honorary Consul in Tel Aviv and cancelled the accreditation for Israel’s ambassador.

It said all activities of Israel’s Honorary Consulate in Belize have been suspended.

Forbes quoted the Belize government of demanding an “immediate ceasefire” to let aid into Gaza.

It further accused Israel of violating international humanitarian law.

“The Government of Belize has repeatedly condemned the actions of the IDF in Gaza. We have appealed to Israel to implement an immediate ceasefire and to allow unimpeded access to humanitarian supplies into Gaza. Despite our requests, Israel has not stopped its violations of international humanitarian law nor allowed relief workers to alleviate the suffering of millions of Gazans,” the Belize statement read as per CNN.

“Belize renews its call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, unimpeded access to humanitarian supplies into Gaza and the release of all hostages.”

Saudi Arabia pauses ties

Saudi Arabia in November put US-backed plans to normalise ties with Israel on ice.

The two sources told Reuters there would be a delay in the US-backed talks on normalisation with Israel that was a key step for the kingdom to secure what Riyadh considers the real prize of a US defence pact in exchange.

Until Iran-backed Hamas sparked a war on 7 October by launching a devastating attack on Israel, both Israeli and Saudi leaders had been saying they were moving steadily towards a deal that could have reshaped the Middle East.

The Kingdom in February told the United States it will not open diplomatic relations with Israel unless an independent Palestinian state is recognised on 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital.

Riyadh reiterated its call for permanent members of the UN Security Council that have not recognised a Palestinian state on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital to do so.

Other nations withdraw diplomats, recall ambassadors

A slew of other nations have withdrawn diplomats and recalled ambassadors.

These include South Africa, Bahrain, Chile, Honduras, Chad and Jordan.

South Africa had withdrawn all its diplomats in Tel Aviv over its “disappoint[ment] by the refusal of the Israeli government to respect international law and the United Nations resolutions with impunity.”

Chile in October recalled its ambassador citing ‘unacceptable violations of International Humanitarian Law in the Gaza Strip.’

“Chile strongly condemns and observes with great concern that these military operations – which at this point in their development entail collective punishment of the Palestinian civilian population in Gaza – do not respect fundamental norms of International Law, as demonstrated by the more than eight thousand civilian victims. , mostly women and children,” it said in a statement.

“Chile reiterates its call for an immediate end to hostilities, which will allow the deployment of a humanitarian support operation to help the hundreds of thousands of internally displaced people and civilian victims,” it added.

Chile’s president Gabriel Boric in November called Israel’s actions in Gaza ‘disproportionate’ and a violation of international humanitarian law.

“These Hamas attacks are without justification, they deserve global condemnation, but the response by Benjamin Netanyahu’s government also deserves our clearest condemnation,” he told reporters after his meeting with Biden at the White House.

“There’s no doubt we can say the response has been disproportionate and is violating international humanitarian law,” he said. “The right of a state to defend itself has limits, and those limits imply respecting the lives of innocent civilians, especially children, and respecting civil humanitarian law.”

Honduras in November recalled its ambassador to Israel over the “grave humanitarian situation” for Palestinian civilians in Gaza.

Chad in November recalled its chargé d’affaires to Israel.

“Chad condemns the loss of human lives of many innocent civilians and calls for a ceasefire leading to a lasting solution to the Palestinian question,” its foreign ministry said in a statement.

Jordan in November had recalled its ambassador to Israel.

It said Israel was creating an “unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe” and threatening regional security in West Asia.

Bahrain in November said its Israel had returned home.

It added that the Israeli ambassador in Manama had left the kingdom “a while ago.”

In its statement, the parliament – a consultative body with no powers in the area of foreign policy – said the moves “confirmed Bahrain’s historic position in support of the Palestinian cause”.

“The Council of Representatives affirms that the Israeli ambassador in the kingdom of Bahrain has left Bahrain and the kingdom of Bahrain has decided on the return of the Bahrain ambassador to Israel,” the parliament said.

“The cessation of economic relations was also decided,” it said, without making clear who had made the decision.

How will this impact Israel?

A piece in AA.com noted that these developments ’exacerbates the diplomatic isolation of Israel.’

It noted that Israel, despite being a member of the UN, does not have bilateral relations with all 193 members.

But arguably the biggest impact on Israel could be with regard to the Abraham Accords – and any possible dealings with Saudi Arabia.

This is a series of normalisation agreements between Israel and Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Sudan and Morocco signed in 2020.

Washington helped broker the accords between Israel and Arab nations, the first of their kind since 1994.

Israel had been hoping the accords would eventually pave the way for a normalisation deal with Saudi Arabia, an oil and Muslim power which has vast influence across the West Asia.

But the Israel-Hamas war has dealt a blow to its plans.

The latest war in the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict began when Hamas militants broke through the border on 7 October.

Israel says they killed 1,400 people, mostly civilians, and took more than 200 hostages.

With inputs from agencies