Embassy of Israel, Mexico City

The embassy represents Israel in its bilateral relations with Mexico and is based at Sierra Madre 215, Lomas de Chapultepec, Miguel Hidalgo, CP 11000, Mexico City.[2] Its main telephone number is +52 55 5201 1500, while the World Jewish Congress lists the fax number as +52 55 5201 1555.[1]

A 2015 Israeli government directory listed an economic and trade mission at the same Sierra Madre 215 address, with telephone number +52 55 5201 1510 and fax number +52 55 5201 1558.[6] The directory records these specifically as historical contact details for the economic and trade mission rather than as the embassy's current general contact information.

Mexico recognized the State of Israel on April 4, 1952, and the two countries established diplomatic relations and opened embassies shortly afterward.[7] Diplomatic relations were formally established on July 1, 1952.[2] The National Library of Israel catalog dates an Israeli newspaper item concerning Israel–Mexico diplomatic relations to July 3, 1952, although the catalog record provides no additional details about the embassy.[8]

By 1986, bilateral relations included technical, scientific, and cultural exchanges, and Israel was purchasing more than one-third of its oil requirements from Mexico, with the trade balance favoring Mexico.[9] In 1992, Israel's Ministry of Energy formally expressed gratitude to Mexico for supplying crude oil over an extended period, including during the Arab boycott.[2] In 2021, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador wrote to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the state of Tabasco — from which Mexico's first oil shipment to Israel had departed — would host an Israeli solidarity activity connected with Mexico's bicentennial independence celebrations.[2]

Mexico initially maintained a largely neutral posture in international votes concerning the Middle East, but after the Six-Day War in 1967 it began voting against Israel more frequently.[7] Bilateral tensions intensified in the 1970s after Mexican President Luis Echeverría proposed before the UN General Assembly in 1975 that Zionism was a form of racism.[7] In 1992, Mexican President Carlos Salinas de Gortari proposed abrogating that resolution, and the proposal was approved.[7]

The countries nevertheless maintained diplomatic relations. On December 11, 1985, Mexico voted for a UN General Assembly resolution calling on member states to sever diplomatic, trade, and cultural ties with Israel but did not implement its provisions. The vote disappointed Mexico's Jewish community, which had expected that Mexico might abstain.[9]

In October 2016, Mexico's ambassador to UNESCO, Andrés Roemer, left the room during a vote on a resolution denying Jewish connections to the Temple Mount and other holy sites in Jerusalem.[7] Mexico dismissed him on October 17, 2016, and subsequently changed its vote from support to abstention, citing the "undeniable link of the Jewish people to cultural heritage located in East Jerusalem."[7]

The bilateral relationship reached a high point in September 2017, when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made the first visit by a sitting Israeli prime minister to Mexico.[10] During the visit, the governments signed agreements concerning space, aviation, communications, and development and agreed to begin negotiations to update their bilateral free-trade framework.[10] In 2022, Israel and Mexico marked 70 years of diplomatic relations; by then, the relationship had included five presidential visits between the countries, joint OECD membership, and a long list of bilateral agreements.[2]

Mexico was home to approximately 41,000 Jews in 2024, making it the third-largest Jewish community in Latin America, and about 75 percent of the country's Jewish population lived in Mexico City.[1] The Comité Central de la Comunidad Judía de México, a World Jewish Congress affiliate, represents the country's organized Jewish community.[1] The concentration of Jewish communal life in the capital provides context for the embassy's role in public gatherings and Israel-related community events.

Israel and Mexico signed a Free Trade Agreement in 2000.[1] Two-way trade reached $700 million in 2015, representing a 300 percent increase since the agreement was signed.[10] The embassy's official history also describes the relationship as supported by cooperation agreements in culture, academia, and research, alongside high-level official visits.[2]

Cultural diplomacy formed part of the 2022 celebrations marking 70 years of relations. Israel's Foreign Affairs Ministry and the Mexican Embassy in Israel held a festive event introducing an exhibition of 70 historical photographs, one for each year of relations. The Israeli Embassy introduced the same exhibition in Mexico for display at several locations around the country.[11]

The consular section receives the public Monday through Friday from 09:00 to 12:00. Its current telephone answering hours are Monday through Friday from 08:00 to 14:00.[12] The consular services page lists (+52) 55 5201 1500 as the contact number and consularit@mexico.mfa.gov.il as the email address.[12]

For emergencies outside ordinary services, the embassy currently lists an emergency-only telephone number of (+52) 56 1001 4765.[12]

Einat Kranz Neiger serves as Israel's ambassador to Mexico.[2][13] Her current posting is her second assignment to Mexico; she previously served as spokesperson at Israel's Mexican representation from 1996 to 2000.[13] She studied psychology and philosophy at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and earned a master's degree in communication sciences there.[13]

Kranz Neiger brings approximately 30 years of experience in Israel's Foreign Ministry to the role.[13] Her other overseas posting was as deputy head of mission at the Israeli Embassy in Spain from 2008 to 2011.[13] Within the Foreign Ministry she served in academic relations and audiovisual communication, directed the Mexico, Central America, and Caribbean Department, directed a department in the Director-General's Office, and later served as deputy director of the Latin America and Caribbean Division while leading the Executive Directorate for Gender Equality and advising the Director-General on women's empowerment.[13]

Among the embassy's notable historical alumni is Shlomo Argov, who served as Israel's ambassador to Mexico from 1971 to 1974 before later serving as ambassador to Britain.[14] Argov was a career diplomat who had previously served in Ghana, Nigeria, New York, and Washington and held a senior information role in Israel's Foreign Ministry.[14] Archival records also identify Moshe Arad as a former Israeli ambassador in Mexico and Shamai Golan as a diplomat connected with the mission.[15]

The embassy has been a focal point for Mexico's Jewish community on matters of Israeli security. On August 23, 2006, more than 1,000 people — many from Mexico's Jewish community — rallied in front of the embassy in support of peace in the Middle East and a resolution of the Israel–Lebanon conflict.[3] Demonstrators called for implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701, including a ceasefire, the release of abducted Israeli soldiers, Hezbollah's disarmament, and the deployment of Lebanese forces in southern Lebanon.[3] AMIsrael director general William Soto Santiago addressed the crowd, saying that the "children of Abraham, who are brothers and sisters, need to live together in peace."[3] Salomón Cassab, representing the Jewish Community of Mexico, said Israel's borders should be respected and that Israel had the right to defend them against aggression.[3]

In January 2024, the embassy participated in a global cycling initiative marking 100 days since Hamas's October 7, 2023, terrorist massacre and calling for the release of 136 hostages held by Hamas.[16] Hundreds of cyclists joined the ride in the streets of Mexico City and spread a message calling for the hostages' return.[16]

In January 2025, after a pro-Palestinian activist vandalized a wax statue of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at a Mexico City wax museum, the embassy condemned the act as an "odious" display of violence, intolerance, and hate and urged Mexican cultural institutions to prevent similar incidents.[7]

The embassy has faced serious security incidents, particularly during the Israel–Hamas war that began in October 2023. On May 28, 2024, demonstrators clashed with police outside the diplomatic complex.[17] Many protesters were masked, fires were lit, and graffiti accusing Israel of being a "Nazi" state was sprayed on the building.[17] Reports differed on police injuries: the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, citing the Associated Press, reported that six officers were injured, while The Jerusalem Post reported that 18 officers were wounded by Molotov cocktails and thrown objects, with 16 taken to a hospital and two treated at the scene.[17][4] The Foundation for Defense of Democracies characterized the protesters as pro-Hamas.[17]

The violence occurred alongside an announcement that Mexico had petitioned to intervene in South Africa's genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice. Mexico cited its status as a party to the 1948 Genocide Convention and argued that every state party had an interest in the court's judgment.[17]

In November 2025, the Foundation for Defense of Democracies reported that Mexico, with assistance from U.S. and Israeli intelligence, had foiled an alleged Iranian plot to assassinate Ambassador Kranz Neiger.[5] The threat was said to have remained active from late 2024 through mid-2025 before being considered "contained"; operational details were withheld because of their sensitivity.[5] U.S. officials reportedly identified an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps officer named Hasan Izadi, also known as Masood Rahnema, as the alleged planner and said he developed the plot while serving as an aide to Iran's ambassador to Venezuela.[5] Israel's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Oren Marmorstein thanked Mexico's security apparatus and stated that Israeli security and intelligence organizations would continue cooperating with agencies worldwide against threats from Iran and its proxies.[5]