Colombia 2026 election: pro-Israel shift wins by a razor-thin margin

Colombia elects president: Israel's shadow crosses the Atlantic

On June 21, Colombia held its presidential runoff. With 99% of votes counted, Abelardo de la Espriella, a lawyer with no experience in public office, won by just 250,820 votes. His rival, Iván Cepeda, finished with 48.70%. De la Espriella calls himself an "outsider" and has the explicit support of Donald Trump. But what has most fueled the debate is not his profile, but his alignment with Israel.

The Israel factor in the campaign

During the campaign, De la Espriella promised to strengthen ties with Tel Aviv and move the Colombian embassy to Jerusalem, a move already made by the United States and some Central American countries. His critics say this responds to a foreign agenda imposed by pro-Israel lobbies, while his supporters see it as a logical alignment with the Western bloc. In economic analysis, Israel is a minor trading partner for Colombia—just 0.3% of foreign trade—but its influence in sectors such as cybersecurity and precision agriculture is growing.

A divided country and a tight margin

The results reflect a polarized Colombian society. De la Espriella won 12.96 million votes compared to Cepeda's 12.71 million. The 0.96% margin is the narrowest since 2014. In this context, the alliance with Israel can be interpreted as an ideological gesture aimed at consolidating the conservative and evangelical vote, which represents about 20% of the Colombian electorate and maintains strong ties with Christian Zionism. The other side warns that this foreign dependence compromises national sovereignty.

"Buying loyalties": the background noise

In public discussion, the idea has circulated that Israel "buys loyalties" through investments and donations to campaigns. Although there is no conclusive evidence of direct interference in the 2026 elections, there is a history of funding for pro-Israel groups in Latin America. The startling fact: the margin of victory is less than 1%, and in that narrow corridor any external factor, real or perceived, weighs like an elephant in the room.

With an incoming government so dependent on the "outsider" image and controversial international alliances, Colombia is heading into a term in which foreign policy will be the thermometer of its internal stability.