Chile president to ramp pressure on Israel as term winds down

Chile’s President Gabriel Boric said yesterday that he will step up pressure against Israel over its war on Gaza among other initiatives during his government’s last nine months in office, Reuters reports.

In a wide-ranging three-hour speech from Congress in the coastal city of Valparaiso that marked his last annual address, Boric also discussed crime, infrastructure, the economy and abortion rights.

In comments that sparked the largest amount of cheers and jeers from opposite sides of Congress, Boric said he will introduce a law to ban imports from what he called “illegally occupied territories” and back efforts by Spain for an arms embargo against Israel.

Boric, an outspoken critic of Israel, had recently recalled military personnel from Chile’s embassy in the country and summoned the ambassador for questioning.