Chile’s Far-Left President Ignites Diplomatic Spat by Refusing Israeli Envoy’s Credentials

Chile’s radical left, anti-Israel president Gabriel Boric refused to accept the credentials of Israel’s new ambassador in a major breach of protocol that has ignited a diplomatic spat between the two countries.

The 36-year-old president, who came into office last year, was angered by the death of a 17-year-old Palestinian during a clash between IDF forces and terrorists near Jenin on Wednesday, Chilean media reported.

Ambassador Gil Artzyeli arrived at the Palacio de la Moneda presidential palace to present his credentials in a ceremony on Thursday when he was told by Chilean Foreign Minister Antonia Urrejola that Boric refused to see him.

Israel’s foreign ministry in turn summoned Chile’s envoy Jorge Carvajal for a dressing down.

“Israel views Chile’s bizarre and unprecedented behavior with severity,” said Israel’s foreign ministry spokesperson Emmanuel Nahshon Friday. “This seriously harms relations between the countries.”

Chile elected Gabriel Boric its president on Sunday, a sharp turn left after two years of Marxist mob violence targeting churches and government institutions. Boric is a far-left radical protest organizer endorsed by the Communist Party. https://t.co/jmtVwB8MnA

— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) December 20, 2021

Artzyeli attempted to downplay the incident, saying later on Thursday that Chilean Foreign Minister Ximena Fuentes Torrijo had “apologized to me and the State of Israel numerous times.”

“We are turning a new page,” Artzyeli said. “For me, the incident this morning was quite uncomfortable. Being an Israeli and as a Jew, my people have undergone worse things in the last 4,000 years, and we are going to overcome this morning’s incident – for the good of Chile and the good of Israel and for our bilateral relations.”

The Chilean foreign ministry on Saturday announced it rescheduled the credentials ceremony for the end of the month, and sought to lay the dispute to rest.

Chile has the largest diaspora Palestinian community outside the Middle East, with 350,000 Palestinians living there.

Boric is known for his rabidly anti-Israel views.

He once returned a jar of honey gifted to him by the local Jewish community ahead of the Jewish New Year, tweeting, “I appreciate the gesture, but they could have asked Israel to return illegally occupied Palestinian territory.”

He has also supported legislation to boycott Israeli products and in a TV interview last year, called Israel a “genocidal and murderous state.”