The consultation of Richard Gamboa comes in the middle of a more comprehensive shift in President Petro’s foreign and domestic policies towards Jewish organizations
The consultation of Richard Gamboa Ben-Eleazar as director of spiritual affairs at Colombia’s Ministry of the Interior has actually triggered considerable debate both nationally and worldwide. His self-declared status as a rabbi, absence of acknowledgment by recognized Jewish neighborhoods, and duplicated declarations versus Zionism and the State of Israel have actually drawn strong criticism from spiritual, diplomatic, and scholastic sectors.
Gamboa’s consultation is likewise the current flashpoint in an intensifying diplomatic crisis in between Colombia and Israel. Stress started in earnest after President Gustavo Petro consistently condemned Israel’s military actions in Gaza following the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attacks that eliminated some 1,200 individuals in Israel. Petro compared Israeli actions to those of Nazi Germany, triggering outrage from Israeli authorities. Israel remembered its ambassador from Bogotá in demonstration, and Colombia reacted by remembering its ambassador from Tel Aviv. In Might 2024, Petro revealed the total severing of diplomatic relations with Israel, making Colombia the only nation in Latin America to take that action. The relocation drew condemnation from Jewish companies around the world and marked a break from years of security, trade, and cultural ties in between the 2 nations.
Versus this background, critics see Gamboa’s consultation not as a separated concern however as an intentional relocation by the Petro administration to annoy Israel and traditional Jewish organizations.
Concerns about Gamboa’s rabbinical qualifications lie at the center of the dispute. Unlike conventional ordination procedures that need years of official research study of the Talmud and Torah at acknowledged organizations, Gamboa got his certificate from the Esoteric Interfaith Theological Academy, a Florida-based company that uses spiritual titles online for $150, according to its main site.
He declares to represent the “Free and Independent Rabbinical Council of the Americas,” a body without any proven existence, and functions as chancellor of the “liberal and independent Jewish Union of Colombia,” a Facebook-based group with less than 20 fans. Gamboa likewise leads the so-called Shéguel Institute, a self-established rabbinical organization without scholastic or spiritual accreditation.
Gamboa, in numerous social networks posts, has actually called Israel a “neo-Nazi state,” declared that “Zionism is an anti-Jewish heresy,” and dismissed Israeli Jews as “genocidal atheists.” He argues this is doctrinal review, however under the working meaning of antisemitism embraced by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA), such language makes up hate speech.
In January 2025, Gamboa co-authored the “Bogotá Statement for a Correct Meaning of Antisemitism,” a file that honestly turns down the IHRA structure and proposes a redefinition of antisemitism lined up with his ideological views. The statement implicates the IHRA of being “utilized to glorify, validate, legitimize, and sanctify genocide, apartheid, and other criminal activities versus humankind devoted by the State of Israel.” It explains Zionism as “a racist, pro-apartheid ideology” and declares that “knocking Israeli Nazism utilizing scholastic arguments and audiovisual proof, in addition to requiring the denazification of the State of Israel, is not antisemitism.”
Spiritual leaders respond with alarm
Rabbi Mauricio Balter, executive director of Masorti Olami and Mercaz Olami, condemned the consultation as a politically determined act that weakens the reliability of Jewish spiritual life. “This is not a spiritual consultation; it’s a political one– and a hazardous one,” Balter informed The Media Line. “If you desire somebody to represent a neighborhood, you should ask the neighborhood who they acknowledge as their agent.”
This is not a spiritual consultation; it’s a political one– and a hazardous one
He clarified that Gamboa holds no rabbinic authenticity within any acknowledged Jewish motion. “Somebody who studies online through a company unacknowledged by any significant motion can not be acknowledged by us as a rabbi.” Balter cautioned that giving institutional authority to figures like Gamboa not just misrepresents Judaism however “sends out a hazardous message– not simply to Colombian Jews, however to Jews throughout Latin America.”
Colombian Jewish neighborhood: ‘ He uses no assurances‘
According to Marcos Peckel, executive director of the Confederation of Jewish Neighborhoods of Colombia, the concern is not almost spiritual authenticity– it has to do with security, representation, and the guideline of law. “This guy describes Zionist Jews as apostates, apostates, and Nazis. That’s how he speaks about us,” Peckel stated. “An individual who speaks by doing this can not be turned over with the spiritual flexibilities of Jewish people.”
He paid $150 for a certificate and is utilizing it as a political trampoline
He even more knocked the abuse of rabbinical identity: “The word ‘rabbi’ is spiritual. It’s not an outfit; it’s a title made through years of research study. He paid $150 for a certificate and is utilizing it as a political trampoline. It upsets every Jewish denomination.”
To Peckel, the consultation likewise stops working to fulfill Colombia’s civil service requirements. “This is not a symbolic post. The Workplace of Religious Affairs manages genuine public law. Gamboa does not have the legal or scholastic credentials for this position,” he cautioned.
There were, Peckel validated, some preliminary contacts with Gamboa prior to October 7, 2024. However after the Hamas-led attacks on Israel, “he radicalized entirely,” Peckel stated. “Any discussion is now worthless. He crossed a line.”
International guard dogs raise warnings
Ariel Gelblung, director for Latin America at the Simon Wiesenthal Center, framed the consultation not as a separated debate however as part of a more comprehensive political method. “Let’s not miss out on the forest for the trees. This is another maneuver by President Petro to act versus Israel and the Jewish neighborhood,” he stated. “He’s utilizing Gamboa as a political exterior– somebody he can provide as Jewish to press an antisemitic program.”
Changing the IHRA meaning with the Bogotá Statement would have significant effects, Gelblung cautioned. “It’s ideological inversion– weaponizing the meaning of antisemitism to validate antisemitic policies,” he stated. “Similar to a scammer rejects a rip-off or a rapist blames the victim, an antisemite will not confess. So they reword the meaning.”
He composed openly that he wishes to ‘hound Zionists.’ That’s not metaphor. That’s persecution.
Even more, he included that Gamboa’s institutional authority postures a genuine hazard. “He now supervises registration for spiritual entities. He might withdraw the legal status of Jewish companies. This isn’t theoretical– he composed openly that he wishes to ‘hound Zionists.’ That’s not metaphor. That’s persecution.”
When it comes to Gamboa’s credentials, Gelblung was direct: “He has no research studies, no neighborhood, and no scruples. He purchased a $150 certificate from a U.S. site. Throughout a live interview, the host in fact purchased the very same title on air. That’s how ridiculous this is.”
Orthodox management: ‘ He is a loose wheel– Petro is the genuine issue‘
Chief Rabbi Alfredo Goldschmidt of Bogotá’s Jewish neighborhood likewise voiced deep issue. “His rabbinical certificate is definitely void, as is his so-called conversion,” he informed The Media Line. “All of it originates from the very same workplace in Florida. He has no fans, no parish, no structure. He is absolutely unsuited to lead that workplace.”
Years earlier, Goldschmidt remembered, Gamboa had actually tried to engage with the neighborhood. “He utilized to come to synagogue, stated he wished to transform. Then he disappeared and unexpectedly came back leading an unusual Judeo-Catholic congress,” he stated. “This is somebody who looks for a location to belong however winds up developing functions for himself.”
Specifying himself as part of the modern-day Orthodox stream, Goldschmidt highlighted the damage done by legitimizing unqualified figures. “We have actually had excellent experiences with previous spiritual affairs directors, normally evangelical leaders who appreciated all faiths. Gamboa has no such assistance– not from Jews, evangelicals, nor Catholics. He’s had clashes with all.”
Still, he thinks the genuine threat lies not in Gamboa himself however in his political enablers. “The issue is not Gamboa– it’s Petro. Without the president, nobody would take note of this guy. Today that Petro is utilizing him to mask his program, he unexpectedly has a platform.”
And according to Goldschmidt, the wider neighborhood didn’t even require to speak up initially. “Journalism spoke out before we did. There was no defense of this consultation from anywhere– not from the general public, not from spiritual circles, and definitely not from the Jewish neighborhood.”
Main support raises additional issue
One image, released on Gamboa’s main Instagram account, reveals him at the governmental palace along with agents of the ultra-Orthodox anti-Zionist group Neturei Karta and other spiritual leaders, taking part in a main conference with the president of Colombia. In his caption, Gamboa explained the event as an act of uniformity with the Palestinian cause, knocking what he called the “usage of faith to validate extermination” and conjuring up Colombian chastening code short articles on incitement to genocide. The image was identified as a main release from journalism Workplace of the Presidency, an information that has actually drawn issue over the federal government’s legitimization of extremist rhetoric.
Unified rejection throughout Jewish denominations
Incredibly, the reaction versus Gamboa has actually combined Colombia’s fragmented Jewish landscape. “Even the recently transformed neighborhoods– who frequently have various views– remain in complete contract,” stated Peckel. “This consultation upsets everybody.”
Orthodox and Masorti leaders, in addition to emerging Jewish neighborhoods throughout the nation, have actually taken part the denunciation. “He does not represent anybody,” stated Balter. “He represents a political method– one that instrumentalizes spiritual identity to press a hostile story.”
With calls magnifying for Gamboa’s elimination, the Colombian federal government now deals with a plain option: wait a polarizing figure whose authenticity is challenged throughout every significant Jewish organization– or reverse course in a case that has actually currently triggered nationwide and global issue.