Richard Gamboa Ben-Eleazar, appointed head of the religions department at the Columbian Interior Ministry, has inveighed on X against “Israeli Nazism” and called for “standing in solidarity with the Palestinian people.”
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.