Colombia opens its embassy in Jerusalem, the tenth in the city, says Sa'ar

Colombia formally opened an embassy in Jerusalem on Wednesday, 14 October 2026, at a ceremony attended by Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar and Colombian Foreign Minister Omar Bula Escobar, according to a statement from Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The embassy sign was unveiled and Sa'ar fixed a mezuzah to the entrance of the building. The ministry described the opening as a further step in rebuilding relations between the two countries, and said the two ministers would hold bilateral talks afterwards.

The move follows a change of government in Bogota. Haaretz, carrying an Associated Press report, said that conservative President Abelardo de la Espriella had restored diplomatic ties that his predecessor cut off over the war in Gaza. Colombia's Foreign Ministry called the opening a "diplomatic milestone", the agency reported. Hamas issued a statement condemning the decision, as relayed by the Hebrew-language Telegram channel Abu Ali Express.

What the two foreign ministers said

Sa'ar called the day one of celebration for Israel-Colombia relations "and for Jerusalem, our capital", in the ministry's statement. He said Colombia's mission was the tenth embassy to open in Jerusalem, and that only five were operating there when he became foreign minister less than two years ago. In a message reported by Abu Ali Express, he said the number had doubled during his tenure and that more would follow soon.

Sa'ar also recounted that de la Espriella had told him, well before the Colombian election, that he would move the embassy to Jerusalem straight away if he won. "He made a promise, and he kept it," Sa'ar said.

Bula Escobar described the opening as a concrete move towards restoring relations that, in his words, "should never have been broken". He called Israel a strategic partner and said the partnership would grow stronger.

Netanyahu's remarks at the reception

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke that evening at a reception hosted by the Foreign Ministry, according to a transcript released by the Israeli government. He recalled visiting Colombia, Argentina and Mexico, saying he had found in 2017 that no sitting Israeli prime minister had previously travelled south of the Rio Grande. He said ties with several Latin American countries, Colombia among them, had later deteriorated and were now recovering.

Netanyahu referred to the new mission as the tenth embassy in the city and called it "the minyan". A minyan is the quorum of ten adults required for communal Jewish prayer, so the term is a play on the count. He also thanked US President Donald Trump, saying he "did a great thing here", and said he and his wife Sara hoped to visit the embassy and to travel to Bogota again.

Why an embassy in Jerusalem matters

Israel regards Jerusalem as its capital, and Israeli officials treat each embassy opening in the city as recognition of that position. Sa'ar said as much at the ceremony, describing an embassy in Jerusalem as an acknowledgement of both a political fact and a historical one. Most countries that have relations with Israel keep their embassies in the Tel Aviv area, because the status of Jerusalem is contested, with Palestinians seeking the eastern part of the city as a future capital.

A mezuzah, which Sa'ar affixed at the entrance, is a small case holding a parchment with verses from the Torah, traditionally mounted on the doorposts of Jewish homes and buildings.

The Hamas response

Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist movement at war with Israel in Gaza, said it strongly condemned the Colombian government's decision to open an embassy in what it called occupied Jerusalem. According to the statement as quoted by Abu Ali Express, the group described the step as an attack on the rights of the Palestinian people and a violation of international law and of United Nations resolutions that reject any change to the city's legal status.

What the reports do not say

None of the reports gives the location of the embassy building within Jerusalem, or lists the other nine countries Sa'ar counts as having embassies in the city. The material does not say when Colombia's previous government broke off relations, or name that predecessor. The Hamas statement appears in the material only through one Telegram channel, and no Palestinian Authority reaction is reported. There is no account of what Sa'ar and Bula Escobar discussed in their talks, and the reports carry no response from other governments.