The Israeli government called on the Chilean ambassador to “negotiate reprimands” in the country, in protest against the South American nation’s decision to refuse to receive the Israeli ambassador last Thursday (15). Gil Artazelli at La Moneda Palace.
“Israel takes seriously the disappointing and unprecedented behavior of Chile,” Israel’s foreign ministry said in a statement. “This seriously damages relations between the countries,” the official note said.
Artazelli was called to hand over his credentials to the president, but according to Chilean media, Boric may have refused the visit after receiving information about the alleged killing of a Palestinian teenager in an Israeli military operation.
According to reports, this fact prompted the Chilean Foreign Minister Antonia Urrezola to inform the President about the decision to delay the presentation of the credentials.
In view of this, the Chilean ambassador to Israel, Jorge Carvajal, was summoned this Sunday (18) to visit the headquarters of Israeli diplomacy, for a “reprimand conversation”, in which Israel’s position on the matter would be presented. .
Chile’s Foreign Ministry sources confirmed to Efe that following Boric’s refusal, Chile’s Under-Secretary of Foreign Affairs Ximena Fuentes met with the Israeli ambassador.
The episode generated diplomatic tension between the two countries. Senator Carmen Gloria Aravena, chairman of the Chile-Israel Parliamentary Friendship Group, made up of 14 other senators from different benches, declared that what happened “is not only an insult to the country with which Chile maintains a long and close friendship, but It also jeopardizes bilateral relations”.
Chile is the country with the largest Palestinian community outside the Arab world with over 500,000 people.
