Bolivia's new centre-right government restored formal diplomatic ties with Israel on 9 December after a two-year break under the country's last, leftist government. In late October 2023, with the socialist Luis Arce as president, Bolivia became one of the first Latin American states to sever ties with Israel in protest at its punitive actions in Gaza, later joining a multilateral lawsuit against Israel in 2024, the Agence France-Presse reported. The renewal of ties was signed in Washington D.C. at a meeting between Bolivia's foreign minister and the Israeli ambassador to the United States. Separately, the former president Arce was detained on 10 December for questioning in relation with the suspected embezzlement of public funds in his presidency. Arce has in the past denied involvement in any acts of corruption and exercised his right to be silent, though he remained in police custody after his interrogation, the website Infobae reported.
