Israel’s far-right government can relax: Colombia elected far-right Abelardo De La Espriella, who began his legal career defending paramilitary leaders. After his June 21 victory, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu congratulated him on X: “Friends of Israel keep winning.” Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar attended his inauguration in Bogotá and met with him. According to the Israeli Foreign Ministry, De La Espriella has recognised Israel’s annexation of the occupied Golan Heights, pledged to move Colombia’s embassy to Jerusalem and said that Colombia would withdraw from South Africa’s genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ).Why Israel welcomes Colombia’s far-right turnFormer President Gustavo Petro, a leading international critic of Israel’s crimes against Palestinians, had severed diplomatic relations between the countries on May 1, 2024. Thus, Israel welcomes the Left’s defeat: official criticism ends and De La Espriella is expected to restore the earlier far-right governments’ lethal strategies with central Israeli and US involvement – a “return to the past” threatening the peace agreement and a full-scale civil war.As relations resume, it is important to recall the internal armed conflict. In June 2022, Colombia’s truth commission reported about 450,000 deaths between 1985 and 2018, 80% of which were noncombatant civilians. Militias caused 45% of the deaths; guerrillas, chiefly the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), 27%; and state agents, 12%. Of 110,000 disappearances, militias caused 52%, guerrillas 24% and state agents 8%. It documented 4,237 massacres between 1951 and 2021 – half by militias – and displacement of about eight million people from their homes and land since 1985.Despite deadlier wars elsewhere, the Colombian civil war was unusual: there was no military coup and an ostensibly civilian government held regular elections. Yet, many of the militias responsible for the killings emerged from alliances among security forces, drug traffickers, politicians, landowners and business interests. In many cases, politicians and drug traffickers worked together.How Israel aided mass killings in ColombiaIsrael also played a significant role in the conflict from the 1980s onward. One of the best-known cases, cited by Colombia’s truth commission and the subject of international controversy, was that of retired Lieutenant Colonel Yair Klein. Justice Dalia Dorner, rejecting his libel suit against an Israeli journalist, wrote that after leaving the Israel Defence Forces, Lieutenant Colonel Klein founded a company selling military training, creating counterterrorism units and exporting arms. In the late 1980s, he trained far-right Colombian farmers’ militias tied to cartels that committed crimes and massacred civilians. Agreeing to testify before a special Colombian tribunal, he said, “I am sorry that I created a force that ultimately served the drug cartel.”While Israel’s involvement in the Colombian conflict in the 21st century has been widely covered in the media, less is known about how these security ties began. The patterns established in the early years of the relationship have continued to shape ties between the two countries to this day, making their origins important to understand.Declassified 1980s foreign ministry files show Israel knowingly exported arms and expertise to Colombian forces operating militias that murdered civilians and left-wing politicians. Former senior Israeli security officials advised Colombia in the “war on terror”, even though Israel knew Colombia’s government used terrorist methods and that some senior officials had cartel backing. For example, on September 14, 1984, a cable from the Israeli embassy in Bogotá reported that the drug cartels had contributed large sums of money to politicians from all parties.In the 1960s and ’70s, Israel secured no deals: Colombia obtained all its weapons from Washington, which barred other foreign military advisers. The files do not explain what prompted the shift in the 1980s, though it may have followed the Dominican embassy crisis. On February 27, 1980, M-19 guerrillas seized the embassy during a diplomatic event, taking the then-Israeli ambassador Eliahu Barak and his wife hostage. Cables dated March 3 and April 27 show that Israel sent Rafi Eitan, the prime minister’s counterterrorism adviser and a former Mossad official, to Colombia, where he provided ongoing advice to the Colombian authorities in coordination with Washington.On August 1, 1980, foreign ministry director general David Kimche recorded a Colombian intelligence service request “for the delivery of communications equipment” and promised “their request will be considered favourably”. On April 3, next year, Latin America director Menachem Carmi described “a request that we host for one week an engineer specialising in radio systems, who will study methods for locating terrorists through their radio services”.Colombia’s defence minister visited Israel on December 3, 1982, with ambassador Haim Aharon reporting that a defence ministry representative, Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) representatives and representatives of other defence industries were in Colombia. In September 1983, the defence and foreign affairs ministries agreed to station a permanent defence-expert representative in Bogotá, whose role would be “to be the defence ministry’s representative in Colombia and to also promote sales of defence equipment”.The embassy reported the involvement of military officers – including Colombia’s military attaché in Israel – with the MAS militia, Spanish for “Death to Kidnappers”. On March 12, 1982, Aharon wrote:“MAS (an anti-kidnapping Mafia organisation) murdered one of the famous lawyers… Several lawyers published a letter implying that the MAS organisation is backed by military personnel, citing as an example a murder that occurred about two years ago, carried out from the jeep of General Vega’s bodyguard, whom we know as Colombia’s military attaché in Israel.”On February 23, 1983, he wrote that Colombia’s attorney general “published his conclusions regarding the aforementioned organisation, whose nature is known to you, according to which more than 50 military personnel are members of it.” “Known to you” confirms the foreign affairs ministry’s awareness.Ambassador Yaakov Gotell’s September 26, 1984, and April 1, 1985, summaries listed:“IAI, $33.5 million for Mirage refurbishment and $80 million to purchase and install Barak systems; Tadiran communications equipment, $1.5 million delivered in 1983-84, $4 million paid for 1984-85 delivery and a $5 million 1985 contract; Israel Weapon Industries (IWI), $5 million delivered in 1983-84 and $10 million paid for 1984-85 delivery; Rafael, $2 million for defence systems to be delivered in 1985; and Soltam, $1.8 million for mortar systems delivered in early 1985…”On January 3, 1985, Gotell reported the use of “Galil rifles supplied by Israel”. On January 9, he reported that the Colombian military was using “Israeli Arava aircraft for observation and intelligence” against guerrillas and on January 18, that “the police were equipped with Israeli Uzis”. On February 3, 1986, Gotell reported that Colombia had “approved this month the purchase of $29 million in defence equipment from IWI”. He later reported that the contract had been signed “for the purchase of Galil rifles and ammunition”.Israeli arms flooded ColombiaVirgilio Barco’s August 1986 election expanded these ties. Like De La Espriella, he abandoned predecessor Belisario Betancur’s peace efforts and escalated the “dirty war” against guerrillas and the Left, ordering Israeli arms and advisers. Gotell concluded that “Colombia has become Israel’s No. 1 buyer in Latin America in the defence field”.On September 19, industry minister Ariel Sharon – considered among those responsible for the massacre at the Sabra and Shatila Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon – met President Barco and Colombia’s defence minister. Barco urged “a fundamental change in Colombia’s security doctrine” and “Israel’s assistance in this field”. Sharon urged “the establishment of a united front of all free countries, led by the United States, in the war on terror”, citing “evidence of cooperation between Colombian underground organisations and the Palestine Liberation Organisation”.On February 11, 1987, Gotell reported that it was revealed in the Colombian media that Israel shipped to Cartagena “Galil rifles, machine guns, Uzis, grenades and ammunition weighing 160 tonnes”. Although “this is not the first shipment from IWI to arrive in Colombia”, it drew attention because of the “Rafi Eitan affair”.The Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that former Israeli official Eitan had spent two weeks in Colombia as a defence ministry adviser on counterinsurgency; Colombian television reported the story on January 30, followed by all the country’s major newspapers the next day.On January 31, after receiving a telephone threat, Gotell warned the foreign ministry’s director general:“I believe that the activity of Israelis who are veterans of the military and security services in Colombia, and the publicity about Eitan’s activity, pose a real danger both to Israeli emissaries and to the Jewish community, and additional security measures must be taken immediately.” On February 9, he relayed President Barco’s “anger and concern over the publication of Rafi Eitan’s involvement in Colombia’s internal security matters”.The Israeli government ignored his warning. Gotell told the foreign ministry director:“The pilgrimage to Colombia by retired generals and former security personnel continues. After Rafi Eitan, Rehavam Ze’evi and others, I learned from friends in the Colombian Defense Ministry that retired Maj. Gen. Eli Zeira met with the defense minister.”On April 29, 1987, Gotell wrote, “We have export orders for 1987 that will approach $50 million. About 85 percent of our exports are defense exports.” On September 28, he reported a $200 million deal including “the purchase of 13 Kfir C-2 aircraft to be refurbished in Colombia, the conversion of a Boeing aircraft into a tanker, and antitank and antiaircraft weapons.” By January 15, 1988, Tadiran won a $2.3 million communications tender, IWI a $5.6 million supply tender and Soltam a $4 million contract.Washington found the fighter-jet deal puzzling. On November 16, 1987, an American embassy adviser told Gotell that Washington sought the embassy’s opinion on the sale: “The embassy here did not object, while noting that they did not think this was the type of weapon Colombia currently needed, since the immediate threat was not external but internal.”Colombia’s air force frequently used fighters internally, bombing guerrillas, communities and suspected civilian supporters, as media and the truth commission reported.Colombian military delegations also visited Israel. In early July 1987, Colombian defence minister General Rafael Samudio met Israeli defence minister Yitzhak Rabin and the air force commander. A February 19, 1988, report described a course in Israel for Colombian generals and officers from the army and air force, who sought training on “Israel’s handling of the terrorism problem from a legal standpoint” and “the subject of terrorism – threat and response”.The Colombian delegation of generals and officers was led by General Armando Arias Cabrales, who was later convicted of forced disappearance for his role as commander of the force that retook the Supreme Court in November 1985. After the raid, Gotell wrote: “The fate of the 12 cafeteria workers remains unknown to this day. Their bodies have not been found. Throughout this year, their families have continued to demand a state investigation to learn what became of them.”According to the assessments reported by Gotell, because the workers were believed to have allowed M19 guerrillas to enter the building, “they were eliminated by the security forces after being arrested”. Israel showed no concern. In the February 19 cable, General Cabrales said the visit was “important to them because of the relationship with Israel and because of the expected expansion of relations”. On September 24, 2019, Colombia’s Supreme Court upheld his 35-year prison sentence for forced disappearance.Israeli, US ties with ColombiaIsrael and Washington deepened their ties with Colombia despite knowing that its military was arming militias that were killing civilians and leftists, especially members of the Patriotic Union (UP), a party formed by the FARC amid accelerated peace talks in 1985. Washington, Colombia’s chief political and military supporter, disregarded the murders and disappearances.On September 13, 1984, Gotell reported the US ambassador’s view that the peace talks with the guerrillas would fail and that “their hope in this case is that the political echelon will give the army a free hand to try to eliminate them. The army will do so gladly. The Americans believe the Colombian army is well trained for this purpose”.On April 1, 1985, Gotell reported that “the right-wing underground organisation MAS (Death to Kidnappers) announced its return to activity. It is assumed that the organisation consists of right-wingers and officers in the army and police, whose aim is to fight underground organisations by illegal means.”On September 2, 1986, he reported the prior week’s murders of a congressman, senator and three UP leaders; the party blamed MAS. On March 11, 1987, Gotell wrote: “The murder of political leaders, senators, council members and council heads has become a daily occurrence. In particular, hundreds of UP leaders have been murdered.”On May 13, a UP leader accused active and reserve military and police – including named brigade and battalion commanders – of killing over 300 activists. By August 27, the one-year toll exceeded 400 UP leaders. On Nov. 18, Gotell wrote: “The murder of UP leaders and activists continues, as do threats against intellectuals and especially journalists accused of leftism. More than ten journalists have fled the country because of these threats.”Israel knew that the Colombian security forces it was arming were transferring weapons to rural right-wing militias. On August 3, 1987, Gotell described a controversy “after it became known that rural militias existed, equipped with weapons they received from the security forces”.The Colombian defence and justice ministers “justified the organization and existence of the aforementioned militias by invoking the right of self-defence against attacks by underground groups and criminals threatening the lives, property and honor of rural residents”; Barco “dismissed the matter by saying it was merely a semantic issue”.On March 11, 1988, Gotell reported that on March 4, one such militia had murdered 26 banana-plantation workers in Urabá. He apparently did not know that militias in the area were later alleged to have been trained by Lieutenant Colonel Klein. Foreign ministry files on Klein remain classified.Even former president Petro, a prominent critic of Israel, struggled to break Colombia’s dependence on Israeli military and police equipment and expertise, and close ties between the two countries’ security services continued throughout his presidency. A country that has relied on Israeli equipment and expertise for decades cannot simply reboot its security services overnight; doing so would require major investment and a shared sense of urgency among its political and security leadership.Israel has never accounted for its role in Colombia’s atrocities. Now, it and President De La Espriella appear poised to revive the war, whatever the cost in Colombian lives. Israel stands to profit, but above all, it would deepen Bogotá’s dependence on its military industry and advisers, making it harder for future presidents to break free.Eitay Mack is an Israeli lawyer and human rights activist.