Panama had voted in favor of the United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine, and was one of the first countries to recognize Israel after it declared Independence on 14 May 1948.[1] Panama supported Israel when it asked to join the United Nations. A ship from Panama provided arms to Israel during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War.
Israel and Panama signed a cooperation agreement in the fields of culture and tourism in 1963.[2] Until 1974 there were good relations between the countries, but after that year Panama has decided to support anti-Israeli resolutions. This change in the bilateral relations happened because Panama had disagreements with the USA about the Panama Canal, and the will of Panama to gain the support of the Third World countries, including the Arab world. During those years the relations between Israel and Panama were non-official, but they were still important to Israeli security.
In the neighborhood of Kiriat Menahem in Jerusalem, there is a street named after Panama[3] and in Panama City, there is a street named after Israel.[4]
In July 2002 Israel closed its embassy in Panama,[5] and re-opened it in September 2004.[6]
On 29 November 2012, Panama was one of 9 countries to oppose the United Nations General Assembly resolution 67/19 about the acceptance of the Palestinian Authority to the United Nations as a non-member observer country.
In April 2016, a delegation of doctors and paramedics from Israel visited Panama to train the local doctors.[7] In 2018, the President of Panama, Juan Carlos Varela visited Israel.
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