President Isaac Herzog will pay an official visit to Panama on May 6, soon after concluding his visit to Kazakhstan, according to Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino.
Particularly excited by the visit is Panama’s ambassador to Israel, Ezra Cohen, a religiously observant Hebrew-speaking Jew.
Cohen told The Jerusalem Post some time ago that Herzog was scheduled to visit Panama, but the president’s spokesman requested that the trip not be made public until it was announced by the Panamanian hosts.
The purpose of the visit is to strengthen diplomatic ties and interaction, though Panama has consistently supported Israel in public forums.
It is also a visit of appreciation for the fact that Panama is the only Latin American country that does not recognize a Palestinian state. Panama recognized Israel in 1948.
A free trade agreement between the two countries was signed and ratified in 2019 and went into effect the following year.
A personal triumph for Cohen
For Cohen, who was an active figure in Panama’s Jewish community before taking up his appointment as ambassador, it is a personal triumph to return on a home visit with Israel’s President.
The Jewish community of Panama, which traces its origins to the Spanish Inquisition, today exceeds 30,000, most of whom are Orthodox.
The Jerusalem-born former Sephardi chief rabbi of Panama, Rabbi Zion Rajamim Levy, served for 57 years before his death in Tel Aviv in 2008.
