Colombia and Israel agreed Thursday to mutually waive visa requirements starting September 1, reversing restrictions imposed in 2025 as part of a broader diplomatic rapprochement between the two countries under Abelardo de la Espriella’s far-right administration.
The Israeli embassy confirmed the accord in an official statement following a dialogue between Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar and Colombian Foreign Minister Omar Bula Escobar. The visa exemption reverses the immigration curbs enacted in 2025 and is part of a roadmap designed in July to reopen embassies and appoint representatives in both nations.
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Colombia’s current president, Abelardo de la Espriella, is driving the radical foreign-policy shift to reactivate bilateral ties. His predecessor, Gustavo Petro, broke relations with the Israeli government in May 2024 after denouncing the genocide against the Palestinian people in Gaza and actively participated in the genocide case that South Africa filed against the Zionist regime before the International Court of Justice.
Nos complace anunciar que, tras conversaciones mantenidas entre el ministro de Relaciones Exteriores de Israel, Gideon Sa’ar, y el ministro de Relaciones Exteriores de Colombia, Omar Bula Escobar, ambos países han acordado eximir mutuamente del requisito de visado a partir del 1…
— Israel en Colombia (@IsraelinCol) August 20, 2026
As part of this diplomatic turn, the De la Espriella administration will withdraw Colombia’s lawsuit before the ICJ. It has also attributed Israeli sovereignty over the occupied Syrian Golan Heights—a move rejected by Syria and the international community—and validated Morocco’s occupation of Western Sahara.
To consolidate the alliance, both states created the Colombia-Israel Binational Economic Commission to accelerate trade exchange.
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