The victory of Nasry ‘Tito’ Asfura in Honduras’ presidential election on Wednesday night is being welcomed in Israel as good news for bilateral relations.
The message from the president-elect and his aides is that ties with Israel are set to strengthen, despite Asfura’s Palestinian heritage. Foreign Minister Gideon Saar spoke with Asfura shortly after his victory and congratulated him, in one of the first calls the president-elect held after the results were announced. During the conversation, the two agreed to work toward strengthening bilateral relations, and Saar invited Asfura to visit Israel.
Shortly after his victory was declared, Asfura chose to go to the residence of Israel’s ambassador to Honduras, Nadav Goren. The move was described as unprecedented in the country and, according to diplomatic sources, reflected how important Israel and its ties are to the president-elect. They said Asfura wanted to make a symbolic gesture to underscore that message.
Goren invested significant effort in building ties with Asfura and his circle. After four years of complex relations under a left-wing government, Israel now sees the start of a new chapter in bilateral relations.
Israel and Honduras have a historic relationship that began 72 years ago with Israel’s founding, but ties deteriorated in recent years under the outgoing administration. After October 7, Honduras recalled its ambassador from Israel. While it did not close its embassy, it also did not appoint a new ambassador. In addition, Honduras has not accepted the credentials of Israel’s ambassador to the country, who has been there for about a year and a half without formal recognition.
Asfura is a member of the conservative right-wing Partido Nacional. In 2021, during the tenure of President Juan Orlando Hernandez from the same party, Honduras opened an embassy in Jerusalem.
Honduras is joining other Latin American countries where governments seen as more friendly toward Israel have replaced their predecessors, including Bolivia, with which relations were renewed earlier this month, and Chile.
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Israel’s ambassador to Honduras and president-elect Asfura
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Rabbi Yosef Garmon, the former chief rabbi of Guatemala who is active across Latin America, has met with Asfura several times. ‘He comes from a Palestinian family, but first and foremost he is a very down-to-earth and genuine person, without airs,’ Garmon said. ‘He does not even carry a mobile phone, because he does not believe in it. He has a real love for Israel and he knows what is happening here.’
According to Garmon, ‘He is well informed, not just another politician. He is very popular in his country. He was the mayor of the capital, and we carried out a humanitarian project together distributing medicine and equipment to children at a school, and he was personally involved.’
Garmon added that relations suffered during the current president’s term, but said he was confident they would now improve. ‘Many of the people close to him are supporters of Israel. He is from the same party as former President Hernandez, who moved the embassy to Jerusalem. From personal conversations with him, I have no doubt relations will strengthen. He was raised with a Christian education, and his love for Israel comes from Christianity.’
Since Asfura’s victory, several people close to him have written to Garmon saying, ‘The friends of Israel are back, and now things will be much better.’
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The relations will undoubtedly strengthen.’ Asfura and Rabbi Garmon
(Photo: Courtesy of Garmon)
Asfura’s family arrived in Honduras in the previous century, several years after Israel’s founding, and he was born there. He has no close relatives in Israel or the Palestinian territories, only very distant relatives with whom he has no contact.
Asfura, 67, was officially declared the winner after a tight race marked by weeks of delays in counting votes and allegations of fraud. Honduras’ electoral commission announced that Asfura, the conservative National Party candidate, won 40.3% of the vote. His rival, Salvador Nasralla of the center-right Liberal Party, received 39.5%.
The close contest was between two candidates whose parents were Palestinian immigrants. Nasralla, 72, said the election results were fraudulent and that the count was incomplete. He said he did not accept the results and called for a recount, while urging his supporters to show restraint.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio called on all sides to respect the election results in order to allow an orderly transfer of power. However, Honduras Congress President Luis Redondo of the Libre party protested the final results, calling them ‘completely illegal.’
Israeli diplomatic sources said in recent months Saar has made unprecedented efforts to build strategic alliances with Israel’s new partners in Latin America. They said this has included Argentina and Paraguay, which he recently visited, as well as the renewal of relations with Bolivia.
According to the sources, Saar’s directive for 2026 is to strengthen Israel’s alliances in Latin America in partnership with the United States and the Trump administration.
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