Israel criticizes Chile for delaying ambassador credentials

By EVA VERGARA and DANIEL POLITI
Associated Press

SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) — The Chilean government is engulfed in a diplomatic spat after the South American country’s president suspended the acceptance of the credentials of the new Israeli ambassador due to increased military activity in the occupied West Bank. “Israel views with severity the puzzling & unprecedented behavior of Chile. This seriously harms the relations between the two countries,” Israel’s Foreign Ministry wrote on Twitter. The Israeli ambassador, Gil Artzyeli, went to the government offices in Chile’s capital of Santiago Thursday to present his credentials to President Gabriel Boric along with other diplomats but was stopped in his tracks.