Israel at 75: The Views From Latin America

As Israel celebrates 75 years of statehood, it is a moment to mark how Israel’s influence and reach extends well beyond its immediate neighborhood. Nowhere is that more true than in the Americas.

The Western Hemisphere and Israel have a long-standing relationship. In 1947, Uruguay and Guatemala were among the first countries to vote for statehood for Israel. Uruguay was the first South American country to formally recognize Israel, while Guatemala was among one of the first countries to open an embassy in Jerusalem after the United States.

Israel has a longstanding and historic friendship with the Western Hemisphere, many Jewish communities and a vast array of economic and commercial agreements and technology cooperation. Trade between Israel and the Western Hemisphere was approximately $6 billion in 2022 with Brazil being its largest trading partner.  

The relationship between the region and Israel is not without its challenges. As we remember and commemorate the terrorist attacks in Argentina almost 30 years ago against the Jewish Center and the Israeli Embassy orchestrated by Hezbollah and Iran, it is increasingly troubling that Iran’s dictator held a Latin America tour recently and visited Venezuela, Nicaragua, and Cuba. 

Select Quotes

Lila Abed

Director, Mexico Institute, Wilson Center

"Israel has a long-standing and historic friendship with the Western Hemisphere. There are many Jewish communities in the region, and Israel has a vast array of economic and commercial agreements and technology cooperation."

Eddy Acevedo

Chief of Staff and Senior Advisor to the President and CEO, Wilson Center

"Israel and the US have a very unique bond.  It is a symbiotic relationship: what is good for the United States is also good for Israel."

"Israel remains the only true democracy in the Middle East."

"Among countries in the OECD, Israel had the fourth best economy in 2022."

Sarah Cohen

Deputy Head of Mission (Foreign Policy & National Security), Embassy of Canada to the United States

"In a world with geopolitical shifts, right now can be quite terrifying for practitioners of foreign policy and a quiet and enormous challenge for our global leadership."

"The concept of friends, of alignment, the concept of protection, and values, and promotion of democracy, of human rights, of free and open trade, prosperity and security, is a space where we all need to double down."

H.E. Iván Duque Márquez

Chair and Distinguished Fellow, Iván Duque Center for Prosperity and Freedom, Wilson Center

President of the Republic of Colombia (2018-2022)

"Israel shares with Latin American countries the spirit of democracy, of having checks and balances, a market-driven economy, and the idea that security is a democratic value, a democratic asset and definitely a social asset."

"The 75 years of the history of Israel have been the history of a resilient country."

"Israel, has been a country that has seen every single odd as an opportunity, since water management, to precision agriculture and irrigation, to cyber security to a different form of entrepreneurship in a multiplicity of sectors."

Hon. Jonathan Peled

Deputy Director General of the Latin America & Caribbean Division, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Israel

"Political, economic, security: those would be, in my view, the three major challenges we face today."

"We need to put more focus on CARICOM and the Caribbean states."

Hon. Alfonso Quiñónez

Ambassador of Guatemala to the US (2020-2024)

"Being a friend of Israel pays off."

"We need to continue working toward normalization with the Arab world."