‘I’ll call you Santi, and you call me Bougie’: Israeli president meets Paraguayan president

Herzog told Peña that after the painful and agonizing year that Israel has gone through, Paraguay’s friendship is very meaningful.

By GREER FAY CASHMAN DECEMBER 11, 2024 18:16

Israel's President Isaac Herzog attends an emergency conference on the medical condition of Israeli hostages in the Gaza Strip at the President Residence in Jerusalem, December 10, 2024. (photo credit: OREN BEN HAKOON/FLASH90)

Since becoming president in July 2021, Isaac Herzog has preferred not to be addressed by his nickname of Bougie. On Wednesday, though, he made a rare exception when hosting Paraguayan President Santiago Peña, who is on an official visit to Israel to reopen the Embassy of Paraguay in Jerusalem after his predecessor closed it down in 2018.

The two last met in Paris when the Peñas sat behind the Herzogs at the Olympic Games.At that time, Paraguay’s leader told Herzog, “You will always have my back.” In Jerusalem on Wednesday, the Israeli president told him: “The friendship you are radiating means a lot to us.”This was preceded by Herzog saying, “I’ll call you Santi, and you call me Bougie.”

Paraguay's president Santiago Pena speaks at the Knesset. December 11, 2024. (credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM)

Minutes earlier, sitting at a table that had occupied the office of former British prime minister Benjamin Disraeli, Peña had written in the guest book and subsequently stated aloud: “We have been with you in the past. We will always be with you.”

One of 33 countries that voted in favor of partitioning Palestine in 1947

This is quite true. Paraguay was one of the 33 countries of the United Nations that voted in favor of the partition of Palestine in November 1947 and established diplomatic relations with Israel in 1949.Together with Paraguay, there are now six embassies located in Jerusalem. The others are the United States, Guatemala, Honduras, Kosovo, and Papua New Guinea.Peña, who during his presidential campaign had pledged to move the Paraguayan embassy to Jerusalem, made it clear to Herzog that it was not his decision alone but that of the Paraguayan people, who have always been friendly to Israel.

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He said they inherited this friendliness from the ancient Aztecs, whose landlocked country welcomed the first Western pioneers in the 16th century when they came to look for gold and silver.Referring to his visit and the moving of the embassy to Jerusalem, “It was our duty,” he said.Herzog told Peña that after the painful and agonizing year that Israel has gone through, Paraguay’s friendship is very meaningful. “Together,” he said, “we are fighting antisemitism, racism, and xenophobia.”Both presidents expressed wishes for peace and a brighter future.