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Leftist Chilean President Gabriel Boric refused to accept the credentials of Israel’s new Ambassador to Chile, Gil Artzyeli. This unprecedented action, which was applauded by Hamas, an international terrorist organization, follows a string of anti-Israel and antisemitic comments made by Boric throughout the years. Although the Chilean Foreign Minister has since issued an apology and announced that President Boric will accept Ambassador Artzyeli’s credentials later this month, Boric has yet to issue his own apology.
U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) sent a letter to Juan Gabriel Valdés, the Chilean Ambassador to the United States, condemning Boric’s behavior and warning of the rising rate of antisemitic incidents in Chile.
The full text of the letter is below.
Dear Ambassador Valdes:
The United States-Chile relationship has been a crucial alliance that promotes our common interests and shared democratic values in the Western Hemisphere. I appreciate the Chilean government’s past actions to decisively stamp out the ancient poison of antisemitism from our region. It is for this reason that I am deeply disappointed that President Boric declined to accept the credentials of Israel’s newly appointed ambassador. This decision will certainly have negative consequences for Chile, Chile’s Jewish community, and supporters of the United States and Israel in the Americas.
While President Boric has defended his decision to refuse Ambassador Gil Artzyeli’s credentials due to his desire to supposedly stand in solidarity with Palestinians, his decision ignores the history of relations between Chile’s Palestinian community, the largest outside of the Middle East, and it’s thriving Jewish community. For decades, these two communities have lived side by side in Chile without major confrontation. Unfortunately, in recent years, Chile has seen a concerning rise in anti-Israel and antisemitic incidents, as has the United States and other nations around the world.
These incidents have become even more prevalent after statements by your president in support of deceptive and unsubstantiated claims regarding Israel’s policies in the West Bank. This includes the increase of antisemitic language online and even violent attacks against Jewish individuals. This wave of antisemitism includes the misguided Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement, which seeks to unfairly target Israel and limit its access to the investment and funding it needs in order to provide for the wellbeing of its Jewish and Arab citizens. The fact that Hamas, a foreign terrorist organization whose rockets have killed countless Jewish and Arab Israeli civilians, praised President Boric’s decision to reject Ambassador Artzyeli’s credentials further emboldens those that plan antisemitic attacks.
I understand that your government has issued an apology to Ambassador Artzyeli and has rescheduled the ceremony to accept his credentials on September 30, 2022. In order to reverse the trend of rising antisemitism in Chile, I urge you to convey to your government that President Boric should accept Ambassador Artzyeli’s credentials without delay, issue an apology to Chile’s Jewish community, and commit to opposing antisemitism in all of its forms.
Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Sincerely,
El presidente izquierdista de Chile Gabriel Boric se negó a aceptar las credenciales del nuevo embajador de Israel ante Chile, Gil Artzyeli. Esta acción sin precedentes, la cual fue aplaudida por Hamas, una organización terrorista internacional, sigue una serie de comentarios anti-israelíes y antisemitas por parte de Boric a lo largo de los años. Aunque el Ministro de Relaciones Exteriores de Chile emitió una disculpa y anunció que el Presidente Boric aceptará las credenciales del Embajador Artzyeli a fines de este mes, Boric aún no ha emitido su propia disculpa.
El senador estadounidense Marco Rubio (R-FL) le envió una carta a Juan Gabriel Valdés, Embajador de Chile ante EE.UU., condenando el comportamiento de Boric y advirtiendo sobre el aumento de la tasa de incidentes antisemitas en Chile.
“Si bien el presidente Boric ha defendido su decisión de rechazar las credenciales del embajador Gil Artzyeli debido a su deseo de supuestamente solidarizarse con los palestinos, su decisión ignora la historia de las relaciones entre la comunidad palestina que reside en Chile, la más grande fuera de Medio Oriente, y su próspera comunidad judía. Por décadas, estas dos comunidades han convivido en Chile sin mayor confrontación. Desafortunadamente, en los últimos años, Chile ha visto un aumento preocupante de incidentes anti-israelíes y antisemitas…”
“Para revertir la tendencia de aumento del antisemitismo en Chile, le insto a comunicarle a su gobierno que el presidente Boric debe aceptar las credenciales del embajador Artzyeli sin demora, que tambien le pida disculpas a la comunidad judía de Chile y se comprometa a oponerse al antisemitismo en todas sus formas”.
El texto completo de la carta en inglés está aquí.