Chilean President Gabriel Boric addressing a campaign rally. Photo: Reuters/Vanessa Rubila

Several Chilean politicians on Friday condemned the country’s president, Gabriel Boric, for snubbing the new Israeli Ambassador to Santiago by refusing to accept his diplomatic credentials.

A scheduled meeting on Thursday between Boric and the new Israeli envoy, Gil Artzyeli, was abruptly canceled when the president — who comes from the far left party Social Convergence and has a long record of involvement in Palestinian solidarity activism — reportedly became angry at the news that a 17-year-old Palestinian boy was shot dead during clashes overnight with Israeli troops in the West Bank.

Boric’s decision to slight Artzyeli met with a negative response from members of the Chilean legislature.

Sen. Ivan Moreira of the conservative UDI Party said that the incident was “very serious,” adding that Boric had violated diplomatic protocol “for political reasons.” His parliamentary colleague, Catalina del Real of the liberal RN Party, called on Boric to apologize to the Israeli government.

Angel Calisto, a deputy who also serves as president of the Chile-Israel Parliamentary Friendship Association, slammed Boric for having leveled an “insult not only to the ambassador, but to the entire Jewish community of Chile.” Calisto was echoed by Gabriel Zaliasnik, a political commentator and prominent member of the Jewish community, who accused Boric of “mistreating” Chile’s Jewish heritage and demanded an “unequivocal apology.”

In a statement, the Chile-Israel Parliamentary Friendship Association urged Boric to “immediately correct this serious action, before the situation escalates and seriously jeopardizes Chile’s foreign policy and the relations of friendship and collaboration that unite us with Israel.”

Boric won a convincing victory in last December’s election, becoming the youngest president in Latin America at the age of 35. He has crossed swords with the Jewish community in the past, including one notable incident in Oct. 2019, when Boric responded to their Jewish New Year gift by tweeting, “I appreciate the gesture, but they could start by asking Israel to return illegally occupied Palestinian territory.”

Boric has also drafted legislation in Chile’s parliament imposing a boycott of goods and services produced by Jewish communities located in the West Bank and eastern Jerusalem. During his election campaign, Boric enthusiastically reaffirmed this position at a meeting with leaders of the 350,000-strong Palestinian community in Chile — the largest Palestinian diaspora outside of the Middle East and one with heavy political clout.