Petro picks a rhetorical fight with Israel. But why?

The answer isn’t simple, but it’s also probably not what you expect

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An online war of words over the weekend resulted in one of Colombia’s longest-running allies promising to cut off security exports — no small threat to a nation whose armed forces rely upon Israel almost exclusively for small arms, aircraft, and espionage tools.

Petro has grown increasingly critical of Israeli responses to a devastating and bloody attack carried out by Hamas that killed more than 1,200 people. He has compared the resulting siege on Gaza, which has included massive bombings on civilian areas, to the actions of Nazi Germany — comments which Israel’s Foreign Ministry called “anti-semitic” and “aggressive” which they claimed will “threaten the safety of the Jewish community in Colombia.”

The comments represent a serious schism in relations with one of Israel’s closest partners in Latin America. But what does it mean for Colombian armed forces? And why have so many of his supporters fallen in behind Petro over his criticism of Israeli policies?