On the morning of August 10, a powerful 7.4 magnitude earthquake struck western Colombia, leaving nearly three hundred people dead, four thousand injured, and potentially thousands more missing by the latest count. The crisis created an early test for new far-right President Abelardo de la Espriella, who was inaugurated days before. A few hours after the quake, as Colombians still lay under the rubble of destroyed buildings, the government published a long statement recognizing Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, a Syrian territory illegally occupied by the country since 1967. The statement, which triggered a diplomatic crisis with the Arab states, placed Colombia alongside the United States as the only other country in the world to recognize Israel’s claim over the territory.

While the Colombian government was rightfully panned at home and abroad for the timing of its announcement, it was not incidental. Although de la Espriella’s desire to deepen ties with Israel predates the earthquake, the new administration’s moves since the disaster demonstrate that it plans on using the crisis to justify its larger rapprochement with the Middle Eastern country. This dynamic just played out in Venezuela, where Israel’s provision of humanitarian aid in the wake of deadly earthquakes paved the way for the reestablishment of consular relations between the former foes.

The closer alignment between Colombia and Israel is especially difficult to swallow given the former country’s recent role as a leader of the global Palestinian solidarity movement under President Gustavo Petro, de la Espriella’s predecessor. Nevertheless, it’s part of a wider regional trend in which far-right governments brandish their allegiance to Israel or immediately make overtures to its leaders upon taking power.