Israel–Nicaragua Relations

Nicaragua's ties to Israel predated Israeli statehood. Before Israel declared independence, Nicaragua provided Israeli agents with diplomatic cover that enabled them to purchase arms in Europe.[1] When Israel formally declared independence, Nicaragua recognized the new state on May 18, 1948, making it one of the earliest countries in the world to do so.[2]

During the 1950s and 1960s, the relationship expanded to include substantial security cooperation. In February 1957, Israel negotiated what the World Jewish Congress describes as a $1.2 million arms deal with the Somoza government.[1] A contemporaneous U.S. State Department memorandum documented delivered equipment consisting of 68 Staghound armored cars, 20 radio-communications master-station units with associated field sets, four anti-aircraft cannon probably of the Bofors type, an unspecified number of probably 120-mm mortars, and ammunition. A July 1957 New York Times estimate cited in the memorandum valued that delivered package at approximately $700,000.[3] The United States, which had not been consulted before the purchase, considered the quantity and type of equipment excessive for Nicaragua's normal defense needs and feared the acquisition would alarm Honduras and Costa Rica and encourage a regional arms race.[3]

Nicaragua planned to retain approximately 25 of the 68 armored vehicles, cannibalize some for parts, and resell the remainder. It had previously considered selling 28 Staghounds to Cuba, though Cuba showed no interest at the time.[3] An earlier Nicaraguan plan to purchase two Israeli corvettes was quietly discouraged by Washington, which considered the vessels too large and costly.[3]

Beyond arms sales, the relationship acquired broader institutional depth. Israel signed a technical-aid agreement with Nicaragua in 1966 and provided emergency relief following the devastating 1972 earthquake, including sending technicians to study the planning and reconstruction of Managua.[4] Israeli experts advised the Instituto Agrario and Banco Nacional de Nicaragua on agricultural settlements; Nicaraguans traveled to Israel for training in modern farming and community organization; and two agricultural colonies were named "Israel" and "Jerusalem" in recognition of Israeli assistance.[4] A Nicaraguan-Israeli Cultural Institute was established to promote understanding and cooperation between the two countries.[4] Anastasio Somoza Debayle visited Israel in 1961, and Nicaragua was regarded by Israel as a favorable diplomatic partner at the United Nations, supporting Israel even as other Latin American governments began to shift their positions.[4][5]

Israel maintained a nonresident ambassador to Nicaragua, Eli Nevo, whose offices were in San José, Costa Rica, while Max Nahman served as Israel's honorary consul in Managua.[4] Contemporary observers described the relationship as very close from the time of Israel's establishment and identified Nicaragua as one of Israel's staunchest supporters at the United Nations.[4]

The final years of the Somoza government made Israel a central military supplier to Nicaragua. During the Sandinista insurgency, the Palestine Liberation Organization supported the rebels from 1970 onward, while Somoza maintained close ties with Israel and the Nicaraguan Jewish community, then numbering approximately 65 families.[6] Nicaragua continued supporting Israel at the United Nations even as broader Latin American sentiment shifted away from Israel during that period.[6]

After the Carter administration embargoed arms sales to the Somoza government in 1978, Israel became Nicaragua's chief military supplier and continued shipments until approximately two weeks before Somoza's fall.[6] A Library of Congress country study states that Nicaragua's National Guard obtained equipment and training assistance from Israel to compensate for the loss of U.S. aid, specifically identifying Staghound armored cars and M4 Sherman medium tanks among the U.S.-origin, World War II-era equipment purchased from Israel.[7] A February 1976 U.S. assessment had described the United States as Nicaragua's dominant foreign supplier while noting that small amounts of arms and equipment were also being purchased from Israel, Belgium, and the United Kingdom.[8]

Historical accounts indicate that Israeli arms shipments to Somoza during the 1978–1979 conflict included rifles, ammunition, aircraft, helicopters, missiles, Dabur-class patrol boats, and Arava short-takeoff-and-landing aircraft. One account claims, citing Stockholm International Peace Research Institute data, that Israel supplied 98 percent of Somoza's weaponry during the last six months of his rule, with the remainder coming from Argentina and a private Miami dealer.[9][5] Israel agreed on July 1, 1979, following a request from the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv, to halt shipments temporarily; Somoza fled Nicaragua on July 17, 1979.[5] After the overthrow, Nicaragua's new government repudiated the remaining debt for Somoza's Israeli arms purchases.[5]

A 1977–1980 U.S. diplomatic record also referenced concerns about the possible secret transmission of Israeli arms in the context of broader efforts to control deliveries to the Somoza government, though the record did not specify weapons, quantities, dates, or recipients.[10]

The fall of Somoza in July 1979 produced a sweeping reversal in Nicaragua's relationship with Israel. The Sandinista government publicly supported the Palestine Liberation Organization and, on July 20, 1980, granted the PLO diplomatic recognition and authorized it to open an office in Managua.[6] Yasir Arafat was warmly welcomed in Managua in 1981.[9]

Israel's extensive arms relationship with Somoza left a resonant political legacy. A Sandinista statement recorded at the time declared, "We do not forget … that when we were fighting for our lives, the weapon in the hands of our enemy was an Uzi."[6] The PLO drew on that legacy for anti-Zionist and anti-Israel purposes, and contemporary critics characterized the Sandinista government's political orientation as anti-Israel and anti-Zionist and associated it with broader pro-Cuban and pro-Soviet alignments.[4]

The World Jewish Congress describes the Sandinista government as having persecuted Nicaragua's small Jewish community, expropriated its synagogue and other communal property, and imprisoned the community's leader, who subsequently escaped and fled the country with most Nicaraguan Jews.[1] Nicaragua's Jewish population, which had peaked at approximately 250 people, largely emigrated to the United States, Israel, or other Latin American countries following the 1972 earthquake and the Sandinista takeover.[1][11]

In August 1982, Nicaragua announced the rupture of diplomatic relations with Israel, citing what it characterized as the "annihilation" of Lebanese and Palestinians during Israel's siege of Beirut.[9] Israel's nonresident ambassador reportedly did not receive accreditation from the Sandinista government even before the formal break.[9] Relations had also deteriorated elsewhere in the region: Cuba had broken ties with Israel in 1973, Guyana in 1974, and Nicaragua's 1982 rupture occurred within this broader pattern.[12]

A 1985 Jewish human-rights delegation to Nicaragua found that the Sandinista government maintained no diplomatic relations with Israel but stated that it did not question Israel's national legitimacy and would welcome mutual initiatives to improve relations.[13] A Nicaraguan official told the delegation that current Israeli arms sales and training activities elsewhere in the region constituted a substantial obstacle to normalization.[13] The delegation concluded that it found no credible evidence of an official Sandinista policy of antisemitism or discrimination against Jews, while separately noting ongoing disputes over confiscated property and the status of Managua's synagogue.[13]

Even during years of formal estrangement, technical cooperation between Israeli experts and Nicaraguan institutions occasionally continued through international organizations. A 1991 update from the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee's International Development Program reported that an Israeli agronomist was sent to Nicaragua for a United Nations Development Program project, advising Nicaraguan government officials on a sorghum and maize seed-drying initiative, with UNDP covering the expenses.[14]

Similarly, after Nicaragua severed diplomatic relations with Israel again in 2010, two Nicaraguan participants nonetheless attended Israel's MASHAV international-aid programs in 2012.[15] The MASHAV dataset for that year covered 753 participants from 27 countries, including three from Venezuela, two from Bolivia, and two from Nicaragua — countries that had all cut official ties with Israel.[15] The persistence of technical-level contacts during periods of diplomatic rupture illustrated how Israeli development assistance could outlast political hostility.

Before the 2010 break, a more formal development partnership had been established. Israel's MASHAV agency, Michigan State University's Partnerships for Food Industry Development Project, and USAID cooperated on a project to upgrade Nicaragua's agricultural and dairy production through new agro-technologies.[16] The project covered the Matagalpa and Jinotega regions, the Sebaco Valley, and the León and Chinandega region; its components included open-field crops, greenhouse crops, modern irrigation systems, and on-site training provided by a long-term Israeli expert.[16] Nicaragua's president visited the project in December 2005.[16] A MASHAV regional cooperation table also recorded a Nicaraguan participant in Israel in the field of small and medium enterprises.[17]

After the Sandinista government was voted out of power in 1990, Nicaragua's Jewish citizens began returning to the country, and the Jewish population had reached approximately 50 members by 2004.[11] Diplomatic relations between Israel and Nicaragua were restored on October 5, 1992, roughly ten years after the 1982 rupture.[18][19] Israeli diplomatic missions records list the relationship as beginning in October 1992 and continuing until it was suspended in August 2010, represented by Israel's ambassador in Costa Rica on a nonresident basis.[19]

After the 1992 restoration, cooperation included agriculture, health, and education.[1] In 1997, Israel supplied Nicaragua's navy with Dvora-class patrol boats manufactured by Israel Aerospace Industries, continuing the countries' defense-sector engagement.[20]

The second rupture came under President Daniel Ortega. Nicaragua severed diplomatic relations with Israel in 2010 in protest over the Israeli military raid on the Turkish vessel Mavi Marmara, which was attempting to breach the Gaza blockade; nine people were killed in the incident.[21] An Institute for National Security Studies analysis placed the break in broader regional context, noting that Bolivia and Venezuela had severed relations with Israel in 2009 following Israel's Operation Cast Lead in Gaza, and that Nicaragua followed in 2010, with ideological differences already having deteriorated the relationship before the flotilla incident.[15]

The second restoration of Israeli-Nicaraguan diplomatic ties was announced jointly in Jerusalem and Managua on March 28, 2017, after approximately one year of quiet contacts.[22][11] The two governments issued identical statements expressing that they viewed the re-establishment of ties very favorably and intended to advance joint cooperation for the benefit of both nations and contribute to the struggle for peace in the world.[22]

The path to restoration involved deliberate diplomatic groundwork. Israeli Foreign Ministry official Modi Ephraim visited Managua approximately two weeks before the announcement and met Nicaraguan Foreign Minister Denis Moncada.[23] Israeli and Nicaraguan businesspeople helped establish contacts with figures close to President Daniel Ortega and Vice President Rosario Murillo.[23] During the negotiations, Nicaragua requested that Israel renew assistance activities, particularly in agricultural technology and water management, and Israel indicated it would agree to resume assistance if Nicaragua lowered its critical tone toward Israel in international forums and took confidence-building steps.[23]

One concrete confidence-building measure involved regional multilateralism. As part of the steps preceding the restoration, Nicaragua withdrew its objection to Israel's proposed status as an observer in the Central American Integration System (SICA), which operated by consensus across its eight member states and where Nicaragua had previously blocked Israel's application.[23] Israel had been pursuing engagement with SICA and promoting projects in renewable energy, water purification, and related fields, and the resolution of the SICA observer question was connected to the diplomatic renewal.[15][23]

The restoration statement described intended cooperation in agriculture, health, education, advanced agricultural technology, irrigation, training, and post-harvest production.[24] Israeli Foreign Ministry official Ephraim noted that Nicaragua remained a Sandinista government and a member of the Bolivarian Alliance, but expressed hope that the restoration could represent a breakthrough with other Latin American states that had severed relations with Israel, including Cuba, Venezuela, and Bolivia.[23]

Despite the formal renewal of ties, the relationship that followed was limited in practical scope. Neither Israel nor Nicaragua established an embassy in the other country, and emergency Israeli consular assistance for Nicaragua was later handled through Israel's embassy in Costa Rica.[25][26] Contemporary reporting described the relationship as largely symbolic, with minimal political and economic infrastructure.[25]

In March 2024, Nicaragua instituted proceedings at the International Court of Justice against Germany, requesting provisional measures ordering Germany to suspend military assistance to Israel and to ensure that German-provided equipment was not used for serious violations of the Genocide Convention or other applicable international law.[27] Nicaragua alleged that Israel used German assistance in connection with its military operation in Gaza and sought measures including suspension of military assistance and equipment deliveries, safeguards on weapons already supplied, and restoration of German funding to UNRWA.[28] Nicaragua cited €327 million in German arms and military-equipment exports to Israel during 2023, with most sales occurring after October 7.[28] Israel was not a party to the proceedings.

On April 30, 2024, the ICJ rejected Nicaragua's request for provisional measures by a vote of 15–1.[27] The Court held that the circumstances did not warrant such measures, noting that the value of material sent by Germany to Israel had declined from approximately €200 million in October 2023 to about €1 million in March 2024, and that only four licenses for war weapons had been granted since October 2023.[27] The decision did not determine whether Israel had committed genocide and did not adjudicate bilateral diplomatic relations between Israel and Nicaragua.[27]

Nicaragua had also submitted a request to intervene in South Africa's separate genocide case against Israel at the ICJ, filing that request on February 8, 2024.[29] On April 1, 2025, Nicaragua informed the ICJ that it was withdrawing from those proceedings.[29][11] Neither the ICJ statement nor Nicaragua's government provided an explanation for the withdrawal.[29] Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar welcomed the decision, characterizing Nicaragua's initial intervention as "morally repugnant."[11]

Nicaragua announced on October 11, 2024, that it was severing diplomatic relations with Israel for the third time.[30] The Nicaraguan government described Israel's government as "fascist" and "genocidal" because of its military operations in Gaza, and a government resolution called Israel an "enemy of humanity."[30] The resolution expressed concern that the conflict was spreading to Lebanon and threatening Syria, Yemen, and Iran.[30] Shortly before the announcement, Nicaragua's congress had approved a resolution marking the first anniversary of the Gaza war.[30]

The practical impact of the 2024 break was limited. Israel had no ambassador in Managua, and reporting described the rupture as largely symbolic because bilateral relations already had little practical diplomatic infrastructure.[25] A Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center report stated that Nicaragua's announcement came during the October 7–14, 2024 reporting period and noted that Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Fatah, and the Popular and Democratic Fronts expressed considerable support for the decision.[31]

The 2024 break was Nicaragua's third documented rupture with Israel. The first occurred in 1982 following opposition to Israel's actions during the Lebanon War, the second in 2010 following the Mavi Marmara incident, and the third in 2024 over the Gaza conflict.[12][11] In the months that followed, Nicaragua's government aligned more closely with Iran and expressed support for Palestinians and their allies.[26]

As of mid-2025, Israel and Nicaragua maintained no diplomatic relations and had no embassy presence in each other's capitals. Emergency consular assistance for Israelis in Nicaragua was directed to Israel's embassy in Costa Rica.[25][26] In July 2025, Israel's Foreign Ministry issued an updated travel recommendation urging Israelis to reconsider travel to Nicaragua, following reports of hostile treatment by Nicaraguan authorities toward Israeli citizens at land and air border crossings.[26] No violence was reported in those incidents, but the pattern prompted concern.[26]

The Foreign Ministry described Nicaragua as a government hostile toward Israel. Nicaragua under Daniel Ortega had become increasingly aligned with Iran and supportive of Palestinians and their allies.[26] It had also withdrawn from its ICJ intervention in South Africa's genocide case in April 2025 without providing a public explanation.[29][11] The relationship — once characterized by deep security cooperation and substantial technical partnership — had by 2025 been reduced to formal rupture with no meaningful bilateral infrastructure.

Available sources support successive diplomatic cycles rather than a single uninterrupted relationship. Encyclopedia.com dates the first formal rupture to 1982, while a Jewish Virtual Library timeline records restoration on October 5, 1992.[12][18] An Israeli diplomatic missions table lists another suspension in August 2010, while the Jewish Virtual Library records restoration on March 28, 2017, and another severance on October 11, 2024.[19][11]

The scale of Israeli military assistance to Somoza is documented with differing levels of precision. A secondary historical account claims that Israel supplied 98 percent of Somoza's weaponry during the final six months of his rule and attributes the figure to SIPRI data; because the available online text is an OCR copy of a scanned book, the precise figure should be treated cautiously.[9] A 1985 partisan Congressional Record statement made additional allegations about PLO arms and trainers supporting the Ortega government and characterized Sandinista rhetoric as anti-Zionist; these claims appeared in a congressional speech and carry lower evidentiary weight than official diplomatic records or scholarly analyses.[32]

The treatment of Nicaragua's Jewish community during the Sandinista era is also disputed. The World Jewish Congress describes persecution, property expropriation, and the imprisonment of the community's leader.[1] A 1985 Jewish human-rights delegation found no credible evidence of an official government policy of antisemitism, while separately noting disputes over confiscated property — suggesting that some measures may have been directed at perceived Somoza supporters rather than constituting a systematic antisemitic campaign.[13] Nicaragua's descriptions of Israel as "fascist" and "genocidal" in 2024, and Israeli Foreign Minister Sa'ar's characterization of Nicaragua's ICJ intervention as "morally repugnant," represent politically contested statements from both sides and should be understood as such.[11][30]