Israel and Latin America in the Twenty-first Century
On August 16, 2023 the Georgetown Americas Institute welcomed Arie Kacowicz, Aaron and Cecile Goldman Visiting Israeli Professor in the Department of Government at Georgetown University, and Grace Wermenbol, Middle East director at the U.S. Office of the Director of National Intelligence, for a discussion on evolving relations between Latin American countries and Israel.
Historical Evolution
The panelists first discussed the history of diplomatic relations between the two regions, which date back to 1947 when 13 of 20 Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) countries voted for the United Nations (UN) Partition Plan. To this day, Kacowicz noted, no other region in the Global South has sustained as close or stable a relationship with Israel as LAC. However, the relationship has changed significantly over the years.
Following the 1967 and 1973 Arab-Israeli Wars, regional engagement with Arab countries increased, and LAC countries began to express criticism of Israeli human rights violations in international fora. Relations cooled, a change illustrated by the 1975 vote on UN General Assembly Resolution 3379 condemning “Zionism.” The resolution was supported by Brazil, Cuba, and Mexico, and nine other LAC countries abstained.
Israeli-Argentine ties grew tense following the 1960 abduction of Nazi Party official and Holocaust organizer Adolf Eichmann from Buenos Aires, which was seen as a violation of Argentine national sovereignty. Engagement with Central American countries was further complicated by Israeli arms sales amid the Central America crisis from the 1960s to the 1990s, a series of conflicts during the Cold War that also involved the United States and the Soviet Union.
Nonetheless, Kacowicz and Wermenbol described how throughout the 1990s ties deepened across the region as Israel and LAC countries collaborated on economic and security-related issues. LAC also experienced serious acts of antisemitism during this time, such as the 1992 and 1994 attacks on the Israeli embassy and a Jewish center in Buenos Aires, which garnered more sympathy for the Israeli cause.
Contemporary Geopolitics
Currently, the LAC-Israel relationship pivots around three issues: the distribution of power in the international system and escalating geopolitical tensions between the United States and China; the pendular nature of LAC politics; and the Arab-Israeli conflict.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has made significant efforts to strengthen relations with LAC and collaborate on counter terrorism, security, and advanced technologies, becoming the first Israeli prime minister to visit South America in 2017. He has sought to leverage the ascendance of right-wing leaders and evangelical Christians across the region, of which Brazil’s Jair Bolsonaro is one key example. Bolsonaro also aimed to strengthen ties with Israel in order to garner support from pro-Israel Brazilians and then-U.S. President Donald Trump.
Wermenbol noted that Israel’s relations with LAC is not a zero-sum game. The country must juggle its historically pro-Israel foreign policy stance with growing pro-Palestinian sentiment in the region. Kacowicz noted the cognitive dissonance that exists between economic relations that continue to deepen between the two entities and the increasing criticism of Israel on issues of human rights and democracy.
The panelists pointed to Brazil as an example of conflicting economic policies and diplomatic strategies towards Israel. During his presidency, Bolsonaro vocalized his desire to move the Brazilian embassy to Jerusalem but later backed down because he did not want to sever ties with Arab League countries. Current President Lula da Silva has reversed Bolsonaro’s strategy, expressing deep concern about the settlements legalized by the far right government in Israel but noting no intention of decreasing economic engagement. Overall, both panelists agreed that moving forward, foreign policy rhetoric will likely be forced to diverge from economic relations.
Regional Diversity
During the Q&A, questions arose regarding the impact of local Jewish and Arab communities in LAC. The panelists agreed that though local groups will have a very minor impact on foreign policy, evangelical Christian movements, which tend to support Israel, are growing in political and economic importance throughout predominantly Catholic Latin America. In the end, Kacowicz and Wermenbol concluded that regional LAC discussions will continue to center primarily on domestic issues and economic development rather than engagement with Israel.
A recording of the event is available on the GAI YouTube channel.