Overview
- Israeli President Isaac Herzog arrived in Panama to start a four-day visit to Panama and Costa Rica, opening with a tour of the Panama Canal and talks on trade and infrastructure.
- Israel says the visit will strengthen ties and help secure dependable support at the United Nations, highlighting Panama’s seat on the Security Council and both countries’ past abstentions on contentious Israel votes.
- The schedule includes a meeting with Panama’s President Jose Raul Mulino, attendance at Costa Rica’s presidential inauguration of Laura Fernandez Delgado, a dinner for heads of state, and meetings with local Jewish communities.
- Israel points to recent steps with Costa Rica, including a free trade deal signed in December and a new trade office in Jerusalem, which the U.S. State Department welcomed as a way to deepen regional cooperation.
- The outreach comes during intense global criticism of Israel’s war in Gaza and after the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over alleged war crimes.