Chile's rejection of Israeli ambassador triggers reactions

By Al Mayadeen Net
Source: Agencies
18 Sep 09:56

Palestine hails Chile's decision to reject the Israeli ambassador's credentials.

Chilean President rejects Israeli ambassador credentials

Chilean President Gabriel Bovic's recent move to send away the Israeli occupation's ambassador Gil Artzyeli, while they were scheduled to meet for a presentation of Artzyeli's credentials last Friday, was hailed by Palestine.

In a press statement, Hamas spokesperson Jihad Taha expressed appreciation for the Chilean President's move.

Taha called on Chile and all countries around the world to sever their ties with the Israeli regime in support of Palestine's liberation, as well as humanitarian justice issues, foremost among them the Palestinian cause.

What happened?

According to the Associated Press, Artzyeli "was already at the place, waiting to go into the room, when the minister of foreign relations came up to him and said that due to an incident that had taken place… with the death of a 17-year-old teenager in an operation by the Israeli military, the president had decided in that context to postpone the delivery of the credentials."

No date has been scheduled yet for the delivery of the credentials, the source said.

The reason why Bovic had canceled the meeting was due to the gruesome atrocities committed by the Israeli occupation in Palestine. Just a day prior to the meeting, a seventeen-year-old boy named Odai Trad Salah was gruesomely murdered with a shot to the head as Israeli occupation forces stormed the town of Kafr Dan in the Jenin district. The boy later succumbed to his wounds in the hospital.

Playing the victim card as always, Artzyeli claimed that Chile had apologized several times, adding that "it wasn’t a very comfortable incident this morning, but being Israeli and a Jew, my people have gone through worse things over the past four thousand years."

However, Walla! news reported that the apology was simply for not informing Artzyeli of the cancellation of the meeting.

"Israel" is "puzzled" by the behavior!

From the occupation's side, the Israeli Foreign Ministry said in a statement that "Israel takes a severe view of Chile’s puzzling and unprecedented behavior," threatening that this seriously harms the relations between the two...

It pettily convoked Chile’s Ambassador to "Israel" on Sunday for a dressing down, "where Israel’s response will be made clear to the ambassador," the statement added.

Gabriel Boric has long been an outspoken advocate of the Palestinian cause against the Israeli occupation.

Boric once called "Israel" a "murderous state" during his presidential campaign, voicing support for bills calling for boycotting goods, services, and products from Israeli settlements.

He responded in 2019 to the Chilean Jewish community sending him a jar of honey for Rosh Hashana (Jewish New Year) by saying he "appreciate[d] the gesture" but "they could have asked Israel to return illegally occupied Palestinian territory."

His anti-Israeli stance has made him unpopular among Zionist groups in Chile but garnered him a lot of support from leftists and pro-Palestine advocates, especially Chile's 350,000-strong Palestinian diaspora.