Colombian left lashes out at the presence of Israeli soldiers in earthquake rescue efforts

“We flew from Israel to Colombia to help this beloved people. There is nothing we want more, as soldiers, than to be on Colombian soil trying to help,” a video published last Friday announced, heralding the arrival of a brigade of 82 rescuers in Cali, one of the cities hardest hit by the devastating earthquake of August 10. In the recording Roni Kaplan, the Spanish‑language spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), spoke; he has become one of the most visible — and criticized — faces of this international unit. His social media posts have sparked controversy in the past week, with the Colombian left condemning them as “propaganda” and accusing them of a possible “violation” of sovereignty.

Former Colombian president Gustavo Petro, now leader of the opposition, joined other left‑wing voices on Wednesday who oppose the work of the Israeli brigade. “It is military intelligence on the ground, with no experience in extracting survivors from buildings,” he alleged, without evidence, during a televised speech. His ally, Senator Iván Cepeda, also criticized the detachment’s work, expressing distrust about the true purpose of its deployment: “A natural emergency cannot be used as a pretext to normalize the presence of foreign military forces on Colombian territory.”

The controversy grew as Kaplan posted videos of the rescue work in Cali on his accounts. In one, published on August 15, the reservist appears waist‑deep in the rubble of a building but wearing a clean uniform. From there he urged users on X: “We’re still here with the Israeli delegation. Follow me and I’ll keep you informed.” The reservist traveled with the Civil Defense Command, which in Israel is part of the military — unlike in most countries. According to its representatives, it has been operating since 1953 and the work in Cali is its 39th international operation.

In another recording that went viral, Kaplan is shown answering “Free Palestine, never” to protesters who rejected the presence of Israelis in Colombia.

“Do not make propaganda out of Colombia’s suffering. As a Colombian I demand you stop instrumentalizing our pain,” responded Carlos Carrillo, a former official in Petro’s government, to one of the posts. Other internet users wrote: “Shameless,” “get out of my country,” “it’s a show.”

Kaplan is a highly controversial figure for the pro‑Palestine movement in Latin America. The Israeli, born in Uruguay, was the official Spanish‑language spokesman for the IDF during the war Israel launched in Gaza and has been accused of “masking, dissembling and covering up war crimes and crimes against humanity” in the Gaza Strip, according to a complaint filed against him in June by Uruguayan human rights organizations and trade unions.

In response to criticism of his videos, Kaplan told El Espectador that his posts are not staged. He said that, although he does not have experience as a rescuer, he serves as a “translator and liaison” between his colleagues and local authorities, since he is the only one who speaks Spanish. “While I participate in all the delegation’s activities, I am not a professional rescuer, but here you never know what you’re going to encounter, so basically sometimes we have to be very flexible,” he said.

In another message on X posted Thursday, Kaplan rejected the attacks against him: “Why do they spread an industry of lies against Israel? There are families suffering immensely in Colombia, and they spend their time blaspheming against Israel, when the State of Israel is trying to help people here? They’re just a few, I want to believe… But what’s going on?”

“Whitewashing”

Among those “few” is Petro, who has dedicated several posts to Kaplan and the Israeli brigade. In the most recent, again without evidence, he claimed that one of the rescuers “helped fire a missile” at a school in Gaza. He has also questioned the brigade’s true intentions. “Are they humanitarian aid? Or are they soldiers of war, Israeli gentlemen?” he asked in another tweet.

Several congress members from the Historic Pact, the main opposition party led by Petro, have dismissed the search‑and‑rescue operation as a “whitewash” for the Israeli army, which has been accused of war crimes by international human rights organizations. During his term the leftist president made Palestine his chief international cause and was one of the most mobilized world leaders on the pro‑Palestine issue.

Everything has changed in recent weeks. Improving relations with Israel is a priority for far‑right politician Abelardo de la Espriella, who took office on August 7. The president has said he wants to strengthen commercial and security ties with the Middle Eastern country. Both he and his government have omitted mention of the operations ordered by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Gaza and the West Bank, for which he faces an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court.

Among his first acts as president, De la Espriella recognized Israel’s sovereignty over the Syrian Golan Heights, a territory occupied since the Six‑Day War in 1967 and illegally annexed in the 1980s. Until then, only the United States had done so, by decision of Donald Trump. Several Arab countries rejected the decision and stressed that it violated “resolutions of international legitimacy” issued by the UN. This Thursday, the Israeli Foreign Ministry and Colombia’s Foreign Ministry announced they will lift visa requirements for all tourists starting in September.

The new administration’s preference for Israel became evident when international support for rescue efforts was needed. De la Espriella admitted assistance only from the United States, with 23 rescuers; Ecuador, with 32; and Israel, with 82. The Colombian president spoke with Netanyahu and thanked him for his cooperation. At the same time, he dismissed help from other rescue teams such as Mexico’s so‑called topos (moles), a decision the opposition says was politically motivated. Now the Israeli delegation is the target of a Colombian left increasingly engaged with the Palestinian cause in response to the new government’s pronounced Middle East stance.

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