First official channel between Israel and Venezuela since 2009
Seventeen years, three Venezuelan leaders, and one extended Israeli government aid mission later, Israel and Venezuela restored consular ties on Tuesday, marking the first step toward renewed relations between the two countries.
The unexpected path back began not at a negotiating table, but in the aftermath of an earthquake, after a 32-member Israeli government delegation traveled to the country following two powerful earthquakes on June 24.
The mission arrived against the backdrop of years of strained relations. Venezuela maintained close ties with Iran and an openly hostile posturetoward Israel under Nicolás Maduro and his predecessor, Hugo Chávez. Following Maduro’s capture by U.S. forces, then-Vice President and now Interim President Delcy Rodríguez accused the operation of having “Zionist undertones.”
On the ground, however, the Israeli delegation encountered a strikingly different response. IDF Brig. Gen. Elad Edri said the team was “positively stunned” by the warm reception as its initial structural-assessment mission expanded into a nearly month-long national recovery effort. Rodríguez personally thanked the delegation before its departure.
Venezuela’s chief rabbi, Isaac Cohen, presented the foreign minister with a letter to Rodríguez calling for the restoration of diplomatic and consular ties with Israel.
Cohen framed Israel’s decision to help Venezuela in terms of historical reciprocity.
“I would call it justice that Israel shows solidarity and support to the great country of Venezuela,” the rabbi said in a televised interview following the meeting, noting that Venezuela was among the countries that supported the creation of the State of Israel at the United Nations.
Cohen stressed that while “diplomatic relations” had been severed, “human relations” between Israel and the Venezuelan people were never broken.
“There are highs and lows in diplomatic relations,” he added. “But to remain indifferent instead of showing solidarity with the Venezuelan people is not part of the teachings of Judaism.”
By the next day, the two governments announced the restoration of consular ties.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said the agreement followed talks with Venezuelan Foreign Minister Félix Plasencia González in recent weeks.
“The move creates an official coordination channel between Israel and Venezuela, which have not maintained diplomatic relations since 2009,” Sa’ar said.
Under the agreement, the countries will establish a mechanism to provide consular services to their citizens and continue technical cooperation stemming from the earthquake recovery effort.
Their joint statement also highlighted Venezuela’s Jewish community as “an important historic bridge of friendship” between the two countries.
For Cohen, the restoration of consular ties is only a first step. He likened the new arrangement to a period of “courtship” before marriage, with the full restoration of diplomatic relations still to come.
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Thanks for sharing. Blessings on your head from the Lord Jesus, Yeshua HaMashiach.
Steve Martin
Founder
Love For His People
Charlotte, NC USA