Expert Analysis
By Eduardo Kohn, B’nai B’rith Director of Latin American Affairs
Chilean President Gabriel Boric announced a series of diplomatic and economic measures against Israel on Sunday. June 1, in response to what he called “systematic violations of international law” during Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.
Speaking during his final annual address to the Chilean Congress in Valparaíso, Boric detailed a range of policy moves for the remaining nine months of his term. Among them: a fast-tracked bill banning the importation of goods produced in Israeli settlements deemed illegal under international law.
“We cannot continue to fund the death of children,” Boric said, drawing applause not only from the Palestinian community in Chile (the largest in Latin America) but also from other Latin American presidents who are continuously accusing Israel of “genocide”: Brazilian President Lula Da Silva and Colombian President Gustavo Petro. Boric emphasized that the policy targets “a genocidal government, not the Israeli people”.
Earlier in the same week Chile recalled its military, defense, and air attaches from the embassy in Tel Aviv. The government coordinated that action with the Ministry of Defense, citing the “dire humanitarian situation currently facing the Palestinian population in the Gaza Strip, as a result of the disproportionate and indiscriminate military operation by the Israeli army.” Boric also signaled support for international efforts to isolate Israel diplomatically. He publicly backed Spain’s recent decision to impose an arms embargo and revealed that Chile will seek to reduce its own reliance on Israeli defense technologies by exploring alternative suppliers in other countries. “We do not accept equality between barbarities,” Boric said.
In mid-May, Chile’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement condemning Israel’s planned military operation in Rafah. The ministry described it as “the occupation of the entire Gaza Strip” and warned it would constitute a violation of international law, urging immediate international intervention. Boric then echoed the criticism on X, writing: “History will judge harshly those who execute, support, and justify the forced displacement and suffering of an entire people. The Netanyahu government has crossed a line once again. Chile condemns this unacceptable plan, which, if carried out, would constitute a flagrant violation of international law.”
Boric has been insulting against Israel before he became president, but during his term that will finish this year, he has shown no restraint in inciting violence against the local Jewish community through his statements and deeds. It has been outrageous that after five Chileans were murdered by Hamas on Oct. 7, Boric never called their families.
In September 2022, Boric declined to meet the Israeli ambassador at the La Moneda Palace to accept his credentials. In November 2023, Boric recalled Chile’s ambassador to Israel for consultations following arguments that there had been “a bombing of a Palestinian refugee camp.” This shameful diplomatic action took place one month after the Oct. 7th pogrom perpetrated by Hamas. In April 2024, Boric escalated tensions by excluding Israel from the International Air and Space Fair (FIDAE), a move Israel interpreted as a political sanction. Boric also announced his support for South Africa’s lawsuit against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), joining rogue states committing brutal Jew hatred.
Boric will not stop this campaign that he started before Oct. 7th. He will continue insulting the State of Israel, making the local Jewish community feel under clear and present danger because of such an incitement from the top of the government.
Since the leftist coalition Frente Amplio (Broad Front) returned to government in Uruguay last March, anti-Semitism has brutally grown. On June 3rd the Political Committee of the Coalition called for the promotion and convening of actions in defense of the Palestinians who are victims of “ethnic cleansing” and “genocide” by Israel.
B´nai B´rith, along with other Jewish organizations and the opposition parties made public statements accusing the Frente Amplio that “instead of contributing to peace, it promotes hatred and the demonization of the State of Israel and the Jewish people, dangerously evoking the path pioneered by the totalitarian regimes of the last century. Calling for demonstrations against Israel without mentioning the actions of the terrorist group Hamas is an act of irresponsibility, a denial of reality and dangerous incitement against the Jewish people and the Jewish local community.”
A Statement from the Frente Amplio also failed to mention the Israeli hostages who remain in the hands of Hamas. In 2014, another Frente Amplio government accused Israel of “genocide” while it was defending itself from a Hamas attack. Less than two years later, that sort of incitement had terrible consequences when a Jewish businessman was brutally killed with a knife by an attacker who shouted that “Allah had called him to kill Jews.” The assassin was never found guilty but deemed “insane,” spent eight years in a psychiatric hospital and is free today.
The unrest for Jewish communities in Latin America increases every day and week. Governments of Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Bolivia, Venezuela, Cuba, Mexico, Nicaragua, Guatemala and Honduras have been denying Israel’s right to self-defense in all United Nations agencies and in every international meeting. This week, the Uruguayan Foreign Minister has announced that Uruguay will start voting vis a vis Israel in the international field according “to U.N. policies and decisions.” In this context Jewish communities in Latin America can only await more harassment and vitriol in the coming months.
Eduardo Kohn, Ph.D., has been the B’nai B’rith International Director of Latin American Affairs since 1984. Before joining B’nai B’rith, he worked for the Israeli embassy in Uruguay, the Israel-Uruguay Chamber of Commerce and Hebrew College in Montevideo. He is a published author of “Zionism, 100 years of Theodor Herzl,” and writes op-eds for publications throughout Latin America. He graduated from the State University of Uruguay with a doctorate in diplomacy and international affairs. To view some of his additional content, click here.