A top rabbi in Venezuela on Monday asked the country’s president, Delcy Rodríguez, to restore diplomatic relations with Israel, the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry said on Sunday.
Rabbi Isaac Cohen, chief rabbi of the Israelite Association of Venezuela (AIV), delivered a letter addressed to Rodríguez during a meeting with Venezuelan Foreign Minister Félix Plasencia González at the ministry’s headquarters in Caracas, according to a ministry statement.
The meeting was to “address the needs of the Jewish community in our country,” said Plasencia, according to the ministry.
“Venezuela has historically welcomed, with open arms, a large Jewish community whose contributions have added, and continue to add, to the well-being and development of our nation,” he added.
Plasencia also reiterated the Venezuelan government’s gratitude for assistance Israel provided following two earthquakes that struck the country on June 24.
Venezuela severed diplomatic relations with Israel in January 2009 under then-President Hugo Chávez, who cited Israel’s military campaign that year against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Relations between Venezuela and Israel deteriorated under Chávez, who died in 2013, and did not improve under his successor, Nicolás Maduro. Both developed close ties with Iran, repeatedly denounced Israel and faced accusations of encouraging antisemitism.
For years under Chávez, Venezuelan Jews experienced repeated police raids on communal institutions.
The Jewish population of Venezuela declined significantly during the eras of Chávez and Maduro, who were also vociferously anti-American.
In January, U.S. President Donald Trump launched a military operation in which Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were taken from Caracas to the U.S. to face charges of conspiring to bring cocaine into the United States. They have denied the charges as they await trial. The new government, though led by figures from the Maduro regime, has taken a more pragmatic approach to its relations with the United States, including restoring diplomatic and consular relations with Washington.
