Argentinian-Israeli Yaakov Harari, 72, was released Monday night from imprisonment in Venezuela, the Prime Minister’s Office confirmed on Tuesday after a call between Harari and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The call, joined by Harari’s daughters, followed more than a year in which Harari was held by authorities in Caracas alongside other Western detainees.
According to the PMO, Netanyahu congratulated the family and thanked Israeli and international partners who aided the release.
The prime minister praised the work of the Foreign Ministry, the Mossad, and the Hostages and Missing Persons Coordinator Brig.-Gen. (res.) Gal Hirsch for their role in the process.
He also thanked the United States, Germany, Austria, and Italy for their assistance in facilitating Harari’s return to Israel.
Venezuela accused Yaakov Harari of being a 'foreign mercenary'
According to various local reports, Harari was arrested in late 2024. In early 2025, Venezuelan then-interior minister Diosdado Cabello announced that the state had arrested 125 "foreign mercenaries," including one Israeli citizen.
Cabello said at the time that they had been arrested on charges of "sabotage and destabilization."
Harari was held for about a year, with the last detention center being Internado Judicial Rodeo I in Miranda, according to Venezuelan NGO Foro Penal, which provides pro bono legal aid to detainees.
Venezuela cut off diplomatic ties with Israel in 2009, and has meanwhile maintained ties with Iran and Hezbollah, according to the Consulate General of Israel in Colombia, who advise that Israelis who are not citizens of Venezuela avoid traveling to the country.
Jerusalem Post Staff contributed to this report.