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Jeddah: The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on Thursday, July 16, strongly condemned reports that Colombia intends to open an embassy in Jerusalem, calling the move a violation of UN Security Council resolutions and a departure from Bogota’s long-standing support for Palestinian rights.

In a statement issued from its headquarters, the OIC’s General Secretariat said the reported move would harm relations between Colombia and the organisation’s 57 member states and reflected a “regrettable departure” from Colombia’s historic positions on the Palestinian issue.

A flagrant violation: OIC

The OIC said the plan amounted to a clear breach of United Nations resolutions, specifically Security Council Resolutions 476 and 478, which declare that Israeli measures aimed at altering the character or legal status of Jerusalem are null and void and call on states to withdraw diplomatic missions from the city.

The two resolutions, passed in 1980, remain the primary basis on which the international community has historically declined to recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, with most countries maintaining embassies in Tel Aviv instead.

The General Secretariat called on the Colombian government to reverse the decision, back international efforts towards a two-state solution and honour its obligations under the UN Charter and relevant Security Council resolutions.

The Bogota-Jerusalem reset

The OIC’s statement follows a meeting on July 14 in Washington between Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar and Colombia’s incoming Foreign Minister Omar Bula Escobar at which the two sides agreed to fully restore diplomatic and economic ties, exchange ambassadors and scrap visa requirements between the two countries. 

Bula Escobar told Sa’ar that Colombia’s incoming government intends to open an embassy in Jerusalem, which would make Colombia the ninth country to do so, after the United States, Guatemala, Honduras, Kosovo, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Fiji and Somaliland, according to Israeli and Colombian media reports.

The turnaround follows the election of right-wing President-elect Abelardo de la Espriella, who narrowly won a runoff vote last month and is set to be inaugurated on August 7. Colombia’s outgoing government under President Gustavo Petro had severed diplomatic relations with Israel in May 2024 over the Gaza war, expelled Israeli diplomats and later opened a mission in Ramallah, reversing decades of close cooperation between the two countries on trade, security and agriculture.

De la Espriella had made restoring ties with Israel, including relocating Colombia’s embassy to Jerusalem, a central campaign pledge.