Israel–Venezuela relations

Israel-Venezuela relations have historically been strong. Relations soured in 2006, following comments made by President Hugo Chávez about the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict, and due to concern over his increasing ties to countries calling for Israel's destruction. Emigration has resulted in a significant drop in the Jewish population in Venezuela, amid concerns of economic instability and allegations of anti-Semitism.

History of Jewish immigration to Venezuela

The history of Venezuelan Jewry dates to the middle of the 17th century, when records suggest that groups of marranos (Spanish and Portuguese descendants of baptized Jews suspected of secret adherence to Judaism) lived in Caracas and Maracaibo. Simón Bolívar found refuge and support from Jews from Curaçao. A national census at the end of the 19th century counted 247 Jews living in Venezuela, in small Jewish communities in towns such as Port Hair, Villa de Cura, Carupano, Chico River, Maracaibo, and Barquisimeto. In the 1920s and 1930s, the Jewish community began to develop with the arrival of North African and eastern European Jews.

In 1939 the steamboats Koenigstein and Caribia left Nazi Germany and docked in Venezuela. One Jewish refugee commented in the Venezuelan newspaper La Esfera, "Imagine our joy at being free and far from a land in which everything threatened us with death. It is such a holy occurrence given that we were expelled from Germany and you have embraced us." By 1950, in spite of immigration restrictions, there were around 6,000 Jewish people in Venezuela. The biggest waves of immigration occurred after World War II and the 1967 Six-Day War, when a large influx of Sephardi Jews from Morocco arrived and settled mostly in the capital of Caracas. The Jewish population in Venezuela peaked at 45,000, largely centered in Caracas, but with smaller concentrations in Maracaibo. Most of Venezuela's Jews are either first or second generation.

Venezuela was hospitable to Jewish life, and Jews "developed deep ties to the country and a strong sense of patriotism", acculturating and settling into a "comfortable 'live-and-let-live' rapport with the government". According to David Harris, Executive Director of the American Jewish Committee:

They have developed an impressive communal infrastructure built around a central umbrella organization, La Confederación de Asociaciones Israelitas de Venezuela (CAIV), with which the American Jewish Committee signed an association agreement last year, fifteen synagogues (all but one Orthodox), and, perhaps most striking of all, a Jewish all-in-one campus, Hebraica. Combining Jewish nursery and day schools, a country club, cultural center, a verdant setting, and wide-ranging sports activities, Hebraica serves as the focus for much of the community.

The results of these communal efforts speak for themselves. The community is close-knit, an overwhelming majority of Jewish children attend Jewish schools, the level of participation is high, identification with Israel is intense, and intermarriage rates are low compared to the United States or Britain.

What is equally striking in talking with Venezuela's Jews, to the extent that generalizations are ever possible, is an obvious pride in being Venezuelan. Not only do they continue to appreciate the refuge the country provided—the Jews having come in search of safety and opportunity — but they also recognize the country's postwar record of tolerance and relative absence of anti-Semitism, as well as its support of the 1947 UN resolution calling for the establishment of a Jewish state.

On the whole, Jews have done well in Venezuela—and for Venezuela. They have built successful careers in a range of fields and have served as government ministers and ambassadors.

According to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Jews in Venezuela reported a past of religious tolerance, acceptance, and no need to downplay their faith. Unlike Argentina or Chile, Venezuela has no history of providing refuge for Nazi fugitives.

Historical Israel-Venezuela relations

Venezuela voted in favor of Israeli membership in the United Nations on November 27, 1947 and established diplomatic ties. During the Six-Day War many Venezuelan Jews went to Israel to fight for independence.

When the United Nations passed General Assembly Resolution 3379 on November 10, 1975, "determin[ing] that Zionism is a form of racism and racial discrimination," Venezuela abstained. The resolution was later revoked.

Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres visited Caracas in January, 1995, during the second Caldera administration, to "cement ties with friendly countries, and to deepen cooperation in areas of mutual benefit". Venezuela's Foreign Minister noted that "The reception that was given for Foreign Minister Peres was unprecedented".

In 2005, the Executive Director of the American Jewish Committee reported "an active Israeli embassy in Caracas and modest but growing bilateral trade."

In 2005, Israel had an agreement with Venezuela to service and upgrade its U.S.-built F-16 fighter jets, but the Sharon administration angered the U.S. State Department when it sold U.S.-built aerial drones to China. According to journalist Alessandro Parma of Voltairenet.org, "The arms sale to China that upset the Americans so much had been for a sophisticated early-warning aircraft system called Phalcon. The repair of the relatively old Venezuelan F16 fighters is quite simple by comparison." In October, 2005, the State Department prevented the Israeli-Venezuelan F-16 deal by refusing to grant export licensing approval to the Israeli government. JINSA reported that the State Department "request[ed]" the Israeli government end all military contracts with Venezuela that involved U.S.-derived technology and refrain from future sales of Israeli military technology to Venezuela. Parma says that the United States Defense Department responded on October 21 by saying, "Israel asked for Washington’s green light over the contract," to which Washington said no.

Venezuelan coup attempt of 2002

Main article: Venezuelan coup attempt of 2002

On April 11, President Chávez was briefly ousted during a coup d'état, and businessman and Venezuelan Federation of Chambers of Commerce (Fedecámaras) president Pedro Carmona was installed as interim President. The pro-Chávez Presidential Guard eventually retook the Miraflores presidential palace without firing a shot and the Carmona government failed.

WorldPress.org reprinted a Proceso liberal newsmagazine report claiming a high-level military source said Isaac Pérez Recao participated in, and helped finance, the coup against Chávez, and controlled a "right-wing extremist" group that was "well armed... under the operations command of Rear Adm. Carlos Molina Tamayo" who was put in charge of Carmona’s military ministry. The article says Recao's group "was connected to a security company owned by former Mossad agents", and that Marcelo Sarabia, Carmona's bodyguard, was linked to several security organizations, one of which was one run by Mossad. The Israeli embassy in Venezuela denied that Recao ever worked for either the Israeli embassy or Mossad.

Znet reports that Chávez said the Secretary General of OPEC, Venezuelan Alí Rodríguez, warned Chávez over a month before the attempted coup d'état that Libya and Iraq planned to call for an oil embargo against the United States in retaliation for its support for Israel, and that the U.S. was going to try to replace Chávez with a ruler who would break the embargo before it could begin. Rodríguez went on to become the president of Petróleos de Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA), and served as the Venezuelan Foreign Minister.

According to the Stephen Roth Institute, the newspaper Ultimas Noticias accused Mossad of complicity in the coup, and Venezolana de Television claimed that Carmona was "going to rule together with the Jews". Deputy Angel Landaeta, from the left-wing Fifth Republic Movement (MVR) founded by Chávez, accused Pedro Carmona in the political committee of the National Assembly on May 2, of having intended a "Sharon operation," in order to do "what the Jews are doing in Palestine".

Jewish school raid

According to the U.S. State Department, in November 2004, after prosecutor Danilo Anderson was assassinated, "the Government used satirical comments made by journalist Orlando Urdaneta on a U.S. television program to allude to possible Israeli participation in Anderson's killing." The Israeli Embassy denied any Israeli involvement, cautioning that the Government representations were misleading.

On November 29, 2004, at 6:30 AM, as school children arrived at Colegio Hebraica, a Jewish grade school in Caracas, 25 members of the country's investigative police broke into the school, some of them armed and hooded, and locked the doors with the children inside, cut off from their parents, to search the school as part of the Anderson investigation. After a three hour search, the children were freed; police later said the search was "unfruitful" and government officials confirmed nothing had been found.

Venezuelan society "reacted almost as one in expressing outrage at the incident."

The U.S. State Department said that newspaper accounts of rumors of Israeli involvement in Anderson's assassination might have been behind the investigation. Thor Halvorssen, writing in The Weekly Standard, said that the judge who ordered the raid claimed that "electronic equipment, arms, explosive devices, communications equipment and documents" connected to the bombing that killed politician Danilo Anderson were suspected of being inside the building, and that Mossad agents had been behind the bombing. According to the Stephen Roth Institute, the search of the school was based on one anonymous phone call. The Jewish Telegraphic Agency says the transfer of weapons and explosives from Club Magnum, a shooting club, to the Jewish school had been reported, but Club Magnum was not searched. Interior Minister Jesse Chacón admitted nothing was found in the school and, along with Communications Minister Andrés Izarra, denied that the raid was meant to intimidate the Venezuelan Jewish community.

The raid was condemned by the Simon Wiesenthal Center, calling it an "antisemitic action, which seems more like a pogrom than a legal procedure under the rule of law". The Wiesenthal Center said, "By breaking into these Jewish institutions, it was insinuated that the entire Jewish community of Venezuela was associated with this crime and suggests the collective responsibility in which every Jew is endangered." According to the Stephen Roth Institute, many media analysts claimed the raid was "a way of threatening the Jewish community and was linked to the government’s ties to Arab countries and radical Islamic states. In fact, at the time of the raid, Chavez was visiting Iran for discussions on oil, an interest common to both these anti-American states."

Prior to arriving in Iran, Chávez met with Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi who presented Chávez Libya's Prize for Human Rights. While in Libya, Chávez said the "time is right to unite and face the imperialist challenge. Like Yasser Arafat, I now have only the revolutionary's gun since the olive branch has fallen." A few days later, while in Iran, Chávez called for a jihad on American imperialism.

According to Halvorssen, Venezuela's chief rabbi condemned the raid's "economy of intimidation," noting that "there is not a single Jewish family in Caracas that was not affected. Many of us have children in the school, grandchildren, great-grandchildren--or friends. An attack on the school is the most effective way of jolting the entire Jewish population."

Accusations of anti-Semitism

The U.S. Department of State said, in its 2005 report on International Religious Freedom, that Venezuela is a "historically open society without significant anti-Semitism; however, the Government and its supporters occasionally demonstrated possible anti-Semitism".

In its 2002 report, the Stephen Roth Institute says that Venezuelan-American journalist Ted Cordova-Claure, writing for Tal Cual, equated Sharon with Adolf Hitler and Frontera journalist Alfredo Hernandez Torres justified suicide bomb attacks against Israel, saying that "Sharon displays more hate than the Nazis had for the Jews." Torres called Sharon a "beast" and said that Israel engaged in "genocide in Jenin... which would have embarrassed even insensitive Hitler."

The Roth Institute reports that both El Universal and El Nacional have accused Israel of genocide, with El Nacional stating Israeli Jews "are today strangulating, deporting, placing under closure and killing the Palestinian people with the same enthusiasm as that of their persecutors, the Nazis."

In its 2004 annual report, the Stephen Roth Institute says the Sephardic Tiferet Israel Synagogue was repeatedly attacked after a government-sponsored rally on May 16 in which the slogans "Don’t allow Colombia to be the Israel of Latin America," "Sharon is a murderer of the Palestinian People," "Viva the armed Palestinian people," and "Free Palestine" were written on city walls.

In August 2004, the U.S. State Department says some incidents of anti-Semitism occurred during the the presidential recall referendum. The pro-government newspaper VEA accused Jewish leaders of participating in the Venezuelan coup attempt of 2002. The U.S. State Department and the Roth Institute report graffiti with slogans like "Jews go home," were carved into synagogues after a 2004 government-sponsored rally, signed by the Communist Youth and the Communist Party of Venezuela. On August 8, 2004 Chávez supporters chanted "Sharon is a murder. No to Israel," with the letter ‘S’ shaped like a swastika. They also wrote, "Viva Chavez and Arafat" and "NO to Zionism." Communist Party members posted signs saying "Neither Orlando Urdaneta nor the super-terrorist Israelis will succeed with our people," "No to the Israeli commandos in Caracas," "No to the involvement of Israelis in our nation," "No to the Mossad and no to the CIA," and "Bush+Sharon=murderers."

The Stephen Roth Institute reported in 2002 that anti-Israel, Chávez supporters demonstrated wearing t-shirts with the inscriptions "Jerusalem will be ours" and "Israel out, solidarity with the Palestinian cause."

According to the Roth Institute, when Ultimas Noticias interviewed Libyan-Venezuelan politician and Fifth Republic Movement leader Tarek William Saab and Franklin González, director of the School of International Studies at the Universidad Central de Venezuela, both bemoaned that the United Nations had disappointed Palestinians, and that "the roots of the conflict lay in the creation of the State of Israel, in 1947."

The 2004 Roth Institute report notes a number of serious incidents, including the armed raid carried out by security forces in November on the Jewish elementary and high school in Caracas, which it described as "perhaps the most serious incident ever to have taken place in the history of the Jewish community". It also states that "Pro-Chavez supporters were responsible for numerous antisemitic manifestations, including repeated desecrations of the Sephardic Tiferet Israel Synagogue." According to the report, the Jewish population in Venezuela is now below 15,000 "as a result of severe instability in the country". The Miami Herald and Jewish Times report emigration of Jewish people from Venezuela due to concerns over anti-Semitism.

2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict

Main article: 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict

On August 3, 2006 Chávez ordered the Venezuelan charge d'affaires to Israel, to return from Tel Aviv to Caracas, protesting the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict. The Israeli government responded by recalling the Israeli ambassador to Venezuela.

Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev responded, "As an act of protest against the one-sided policy of the president of Venezuela and in light of his wild slurs against the state of Israel and in response to the recall of the Venezuelan charge d'affaires to his country, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni decided to bring our ambassador in Venezuala back temporarily for consultations."

In an interview with the news agency Al Jazeera in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, Chávez made the first of his statements regarding Israel and the conflict, saying, "They are doing what Hitler did against the Jews."

According to The Miami Herald, two days later, on his Sunday radio program, Aló Presidente (Hello President), Chávez accused Israel of "going mad and inflicting on the people of Palestine and Lebanon the same thing they have criticized, and with reason: the Holocaust. But this is a new Holocaust" with the help of the United States, which he described as a terrorist country. He went on to say that the United States refuses "to allow the [U.N.] Security Council to make a decision to halt the genocide Israel is committing against the Palestinian and Lebanese people."

Dow Jones Newswire reported that, on August 10, while giving a speech in eastern Venezuela, Chávez said Venezuelans are "making a call to world leaders, for the love of God, let's halt this crazy fascist aggression against innocent people. Are we human or what are we?... I feel indignation for Israel's assault on the Palestinian people and the Lebanese people. They dropped bombs on shelters. ... It's a Holocaust that is occurring there."

Venezuelan Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez said on August 13, 2006 that Venezuela would not endorse an OPEC oil embargo in response to the Middle East crisis, but did say, "What we have been warning and denouncing over the past two years is the permanent aggression of U.S. foreign policy toward OPEC producers" which continue to "pressure" the oil market. Ramirez attributed record high oil prices to U.S. "policy of permanent aggression toward Venezuela, Iran..." and "countries in the Persian Gulf."

In response to the Israeli airstrike of Qana, on July 31, Vice President Rangel said, "This murder of dozens of women and children has no justification whatsoever." The UN and other powerful nations shared blame for the attack because they had responded to Israel's military campaign in Palestine and Lebanon with "silence and omissions. Venezuela has never had any anti-Jewish attitudes, recognizes the existence of Israel as a state, welcomes the Jewish community and guarantees its total respect."

Accusations of Chávez anti-Semitism

The Jewish Telegraphic Agency says that Jews in Venezuela are increasingly fearful of Chávez's vehement criticism of Israel during the war with Hezbollah. They think his rhetoric is "fanning the flames of anti-Semitism, and say that the recent anti-Semitic behavior is not typical for Venezuela. They indicate concern about "the government's incendiary comments about Israel and Jews."

Chávez has been accused of anti-Semitism several times by organizations like the Anti-Defamation League, which wrote to Chávez asking him to consider how his statements might effect Venezuela. The southern area director of the ADL accused Chávez of "distorting history and torturing the truth, as he has done in this case, it is a dangerous exercise which echoes classic anti-Semitic themes."

The president of the Miami-based Independent Venezuelan-American Citizens said "That's what you expect from someone who surrounds himself with the dregs of the world. He seeks out terrorists and dictators. It's predictable that he wouldn't defend a democratic country like Israel." Jewish-Venezuelan community leaders in Caracas told El Nuevo Herald that Chávez's statements have created a situation of "fear and discomfort... The president is not the president of a single group but of Venezuelan Jews as well."

The Federation of Israeli Associations of Venezuela condemned "attempts to trivialize the Holocaust, the premeditated and systematic extermination of millions of human beings solely because they were Jews ... by comparing it with the current war actions."

The Simon Wiesenthal Center previously criticized Chávez after he compared Spain's Jose Maria Aznar to Hitler. In late 2005, Rabbi Henri Sobel of Brazil, a World Jewish Congress leader, also accused Chávez of anti-Semitism. The Weisenthal Center also criticized a December 2005 speech by Chávez as anti-Semitic. Referring to the December 2005 speech, the Miami Herald said, "It's not the first time Chávez has made comments deemed anti-Semitic. In 2005, he attacked 'some minorities, the descendants of the people who crucified Christ, [who] seized the riches of the world'." Chávez stated that "[t]he world is for all of us, then, but it so happens that a minority, the descendants of the same ones that crucified Christ, the descendants of the same ones that kicked Bolívar out of here and also crucified him in their own way over there in Santa Marta, in Colombia. A minority has taken possession all of the wealth of the world."

According to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Venezuelan government sources, and FAIR, Jewish leaders in Venezuela said the quote omitted the reference to Bolívar, stated that Chávez was referring to Jews, and denounced the remarks as anti-Semitic by way of his allusions to wealth. According to an an article published at Forward.com, Venezuelan Jewish community leaders accused the Simon Wiesenthal Center of rushing to judgment with the anti-Semitic remarks, saying that Chávez's comments had been taken out of context, and that he was actually referring to "gentile business elites" or the "white oligarchy that has dominated the region since the colonial era".

According to Venezuelanalysis.com, Chávez denied the accusations, saying to the National Assembly, "Anti-liberal I am, anti-imperialist even more so, but anti-Semitic, never, that's a lie. It's part of a imperialist campaign, I am sure." Chávez said he thought the attack was, "an offensive of the empire." He dismissed the accusations of the Simon Wiesenthal Center as propoganda and said he hoped that former Prime Minister Sharon would recover from his stroke. In a nationally televised speech, Chávez accused the Wiesenthal Center of working with Washington. “It’s part of the imperialist campaign,” Chávez said, according to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. “It’s part of this political battle.” The Weisenthal Center's representative in Latin America replied that Chávez's mention of Christ-killers was "ambiguous at best" and that the "decision to criticize Chávez had been taken after careful consideration".

Halvorssen says that, "Chavez first ran for president on a reform platform, winning in a landslide. What few understood then was that Chavez planned to revolutionize the country following a plan masterminded by his longtime friend Norberto Ceresole, an Argentinian writer infamous for his books denying the Holocaust and his conspiracy theories about Jewish plans to control the planet." Holocaust denier Ceresole calls the Jews of Venezuela the greatest threat to Chavismo in his Caudillo, Ejército, Pueblo (Leader, Army, People).

In 2004, after he overcame the referendum on his presidency, Chávez told the opposition not to to let themselves “be poisoned by those wandering Jews. Don’t let them lead you to the place they want you to be led. There are some people saying that those 40 percent [who supported his recall] are all enemies of Chavez." The next day he said on national television that "There are some − every day there are fewer − ‘small leaders’ [dirigencillos] who don’t lead anyone, they are more isolated every day, and wander around like the wandering Jew." The Roth Institute says that the Jewish community in Venezuela explains that the phrase ‘wandering Jews’ "was directed metaphorically at the leaders of the opposition parties" and is a common term in the Catholic world. Vice President Jose Vicente Rangel explained the meaning of the term the next day, and assured Jewish community leaders that it had been used inappropriately. The U.S. State Department also mentioned that "A few days after his electoral victory, President Chavez gave a speech in which he compared the opposition to 'wandering Jews'." Writing in The Weekly Standard, Thor Halvorssen says the United States Department of State's Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor's "Report on Global Anti-Semitism" also noted that "Anti-Semitic leaflets also were available to the public in an Interior and Justice Ministry office waiting room."

In December 2004, according to the U.S. State Department, placards signed by the government political party MVR (Fifth Republic Movement) and the Venezuelan Communist Party "carried statements accusing Israel of having terrorist commandos in the country".

Chávez and the Arab World

According to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Chávez "is pursuing closer strategic relations with Arab countries and Iran, and is emerging as a key supporter of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who repeatedly has called for Israel’s destruction." Although it's not unusual for OPEC members to maintain relations, "Carlos Romero, a political scientist at the Universidad Central de Venezuela, says that 'since the foundation of Israel, Venezuela has maintained equilibrium between its interests in Israel and Arab countries. Chavez has broken this'."

Al Jazeera's Dima Khatib, reports that Chávez was the first head of state to harshly condemn Israel over the Israeli-Lebanon conflict, even before any Arab or Muslim country. His decision to withdraw his charge d'affairs from Tel Aviv has created a following in the Arab world so dedicated that "many [Arabs] declare they are 'ready to die for' Chavez." Khatib says that “The sure thing is that in the mind of millions of Arabs, Chavez is now in the same league as Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah, and other ‘heroic’ Arab figures.”

CNSNews says that critics of Israel, many of them in the Arab world, hailed Chávez in his dealings with Israel. Al-Ahram Weekly commented, "it was somehow ironic that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, following his attack on Israel and the recalling of his ambassador to Tel Aviv, emerged as the most popular leader within the Arab world." The Syrian communist party urged Arab governments to "follow the example of Venezuela’s President Hugo Chávez”. According to CNSNews, the vice-chairman of Hezbollah's political council, Mahmoud Komati, called Chávez's actions an example for "revolutionaries", and a "London, left-wing lawmaker" said that Chávez was a "real leader of the Arab people."

According to U.S. News & World Report, U.S. government officials say the Chávez administration allows alleged terrorist organizations to operate within Venezuela's borders, including Hamas, Hezbollah, and Islamiyya al Gammat. U.S. officials also allege that the Venezuelan government is knowingly providing identity documents to these organizations. The Venezuelan government denies these allegations.

As of August, 2006, Venezuela was actively seeking the candidacy of non-permanent UN Security Council set. In the final contest between Guatemala and Venezuela, Guatemala's candidacy is backed by the United States while Venezuela was courting Africa, the Arab League, and Russia. When submitting Venezuela's candidacy to the Arab League members, El Universal reports that a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Venezuela "will support our Arab fellows against war and incursion of foreign countries".

Iran

Chávez paid a two-day visit to Iran when the government faced international criticism for continuing its nuclear program and backing Hezbollah guerrillas. On Chávez's birthday, July 28, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad presented Chávez with Iran's highest honor for "supporting Tehran in its nuclear standoff with the international community".

Chávez pledged that Venezuela would "stay by Iran at any time and under any condition." Ahmedinejad called Chávez a kindred spirit. "I feel I have met a brother and trench mate after meeting Chávez." Chávez said he "admired the Iranian president for 'his wisdom and strength'," saying, "We are with you and with Iran forever. As long as we remain united we will be able to defeat (U.S.) imperialism, but if we are divided they will push us aside".

Reuters reported that Chávez told a crowd at the University of Tehran, "If the U.S. empire succeeds in consolidating its dominance, then the humankind has no future. Therefore, we have to save the humankind and put an end to the U.S. empire". The reports adds that Chávez slashed out at Israel and labeled the 2006 Lebanon offensive as "fascist and terrorist." Decorating Chávez with the "Higher Medal of the Islamic Republic of Iran", Ahmadinejad said, "Mr. Chávez is my brother, he is a friend of the Iranian nation and the people seeking freedom around the world. He works perpetually against the dominant system. He is a worker of God and servant of the people."

See also

• Foreign policy of Hugo Chávez