Evangelical Christians in Colombia joined the country’s Jewish community in criticizing the appointment of an anti-Israel rabbi with dubious credentials as the country’s Director of Religious Affairs.

The Evangelical Confederation of Colombia, Cedecol, which represents more than 7,000 Christian churches in the country, voiced its alarm on Wednesday over the appointment of Richard Gamboa Ben-Eleazar as head the Interior Ministry’s religions department, which was announced last week.

“There are doubts over his legitimacy within his own faith community, as well as his suitability to represent all faiths in an official capacity,” Pastor Lyda Elena Arias, who heads Cedecol, told the Semana newspaper Wednesday.

This was a reference to claims that Gamboa, who would be responsible for allocating funds and coordinating government action with religious institutions in his new post, had purchased his rabbinical degree from the Florida-based Esoteric Theological Seminary, which is not widely recognized as a rabbinical certifier, and which has advertised such degrees for $160.

The Confederation of Jewish Communities of Colombia last week said that the country’s Jewish communities have not received “the necessary guarantees” as to the suitability of Gamboa, who last month inveighed on X against “Israeli Nazism” and called for “standing in solidarity with the Palestinian people.”

Colombia’s tiny Jewish community of about 4,500 people has had a strained relationship with Colombian President Gustavo Petro, a left-wing populist who last year broke diplomatic relations with Israel over its war against Hamas in Gaza. The evangelical church’s protest over Gamboa’s appointment, however, could pose more of an issue for the government.  

Gamboa has posted to social media pictures of himself with an anti-Israel rabbi of the Neturei Karta, an anti-Zionist sect whose leaders have maintained friendly relations with Iran.

In a video on X, Gamboa on Tuesday denied that he’d bought the Esoteric Theological Seminary rabbinical certificate. “I did not pay for it,” he said in the video, in which he presented to the camera various diplomas he said he’d received. The other certificate connected to Judaism that Gamboa presented was described by him as a doctorate from the “Hebrew Theological Seminary” in Bolivia. JNS was not able to immediately locate a website or address for this institution.

Gamboa thanked Petro for the appointment and assured the Jewish community “and all other religious communities” that he will “be a voice for all of you.”

Gamboa, 47, has said that he is the son of “secular Sephardic Jews” in Tolima, Colombia, El Pais reported. 

Image - Members of the Jewish Community of Medelllin, Colombia listen to a talk by Israeli diplomats on Nov. 29, 2024. Photo Credit: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the State of Israel