Chile’s Lawyers for Palestine call for investigation into country’s ambassador to Israel

Lawyers for Palestine in Chile have issued a press statement confirming that they have filed a formal petition with the Office of the Comptroller General of the Republic. The petition is requesting an investigation into Chile’s Ambassador to Israel, Gabriel Zaliasnik, over an interview broadcast on 26th August by the US program “Defending Israel” on the Jewish Broadcasting Service (JBS). 

Introduced as Chile’s Ambassador, Zaliasnik accused Chile’s Palestinian community of manipulating its numbers: “They play with the number because that’s politics.” In the same interview he conceded that, as to the figure, “we can speculate only.” He was asked only about the community’s size, yet he went on to refer to the “radicalizing” of “some small sectors” of it, without identifying any person, organisation or event. 

The entire interview took place in front of a map showing the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza as part of Israel. The Ambassador raised no objection about the map, although Chile has recognised the State of Palestine since 2011. He remained silent precisely where he was obliged to represent Chile. 

The press release said that according to Chilean law, the Civil Service Statute  prohibits all public officials from engaging in arbitrary discrimination as defined in Law No. 20,609. That law protects, among other grounds, ethnicity, nationality and political opinion. 

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The Lawyers for Palestine statement recalled that in 2025 the Ministry of Foreign Affairs terminated the posting of Chile’s Ambassador to New Zealand over her public statements. In this light, their petition seeks the application of the same standards with regard to Zaliasnik. 

On his part, the Ambassador has, thus far, expressed regret for terms that “may be offensive.” While the Government has acknowledged that the ambassador “made a mistake,” it has until now not opened any disciplinary proceeding. 

The Lawyers for Palestine are calling on the Comptroller General to: 

• Thoroughly investigate whether the Ambassador acted with authorisation and in accordance with his duties of probity, impartiality and non-discrimination;
• Order the corresponding disciplinary proceeding; and 
• Issue general rules governing ambassadors’ public statements. 

“This is not about the Ambassador’s beliefs, but about the use of his office. If this ends with a call to order, the message to the entire Foreign Service is that probity, and the honour of Chilean citizens, are negotiable. They are not,” said Paula Abugattas Nazal, attorney for Lawyers for Palestine.

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