Thousands across Colombia protest president’s decision to reopen ties with Israel

Thousands of Colombians took to the streets on Wednesday to protest President Abelardo de la Espriella’s decision to restore diplomatic relations with Israel and open an embassy in Jerusalem, according to reporting by aa.com.tr. The demonstrations, held in cities across the country, brought together students, social movement activists and other demonstrators who marched through Bogota waving Palestinian flags and carrying banners that read "We are not your backyard."

In the capital, hundreds of protesters voiced opposition to the administration’s foreign-policy shift with chants including "No to American interventionism," "Zionists out, Gringos out, Abelardo out," aa.com.tr reported. Organisers and participants framed the embassy opening as a rejection of both Israeli policy in Gaza and perceived US influence; those characterisations appear in the aa.com.tr account of the marches. The protests followed President De la Espriella’s move to restore ties with Israel after his August inauguration; aa.com.tr notes that former President Gustavo Petro had cut relations in 2024 over Israel’s war in Gaza. De la Espriella is quoted in aa.com.tr as saying diplomatic relations "should never have been broken," and calling Israel a "strategic partner," while describing the embassy opening as "a concrete step towards fully restoring bilateral relations."

The aa.com.tr report documents the protesters’ visible symbols and slogans but does not provide estimates for the total number of participants beyond describing demonstrations as involving thousands nationwide and hundreds in Bogota. The article records the protesters’ demands directed at the new president and at US influence, and it cites De la Espriella’s public defence of renewing ties with Israel. Headlines from other outlets, including France 24 and Colombia Reports, also note large protests against the government’s actions, signalling broad media coverage of dissent, but the only detailed account in the is aa.com.tr’s narrative from Bogota. The account establishes who protested, what they were protesting, where the demonstrations took place, and the administration’s stated position that restoring relations with Israel represents a return to a strategic partnership. The reporting does not include independent verification of crowd sizes, statements from organisers beyond quoted chants and banners, or government responses beyond De la Espriella’s quoted remarks in aa.com.tr. It therefore records a clear public backlash in urban street demonstrations and the president’s framing of the embassy opening as a policy reversal from his predecessor.