29 Aug 2019; MEMO: Honduran announced on Tuesday that President Juan Orlando Hernández is paying an official visit to Israel tomorrow to open the country’s diplomatic office in Jerusalem, recognising the occupied city as Israel’s capital, news agencies reported.
Hernández said that opening a diplomatic office in Jerusalem “is an extension” to the embassy in Tel Aviv.
Honduran foreign ministry said in a statement that Israel had proposed the idea of moving the embassy to Jerusalem and this proposal is being assessed.
Since US President Donald Trump recognised Jerusalem as Israel’s capital in December 2017 and relocated the US embassy to the Holy City in May 2018, a handful of countries have followed suit. Most of these have been Latin American countries with close ties to the US, including Paraguay and Guatemala.
However, within months of relocating its mission, Paraguay reversed the decision and moved the embassy back to Tel Aviv, citing a desire to support “broad, lasting and just peace” among Israelis and Palestinians.
Brazil has also toyed with the idea of moving its embassy to Jerusalem. In March, however, Brazil appeared to backtrack on its promise, saying it would instead open a “business office” in Jerusalem.
Likewise Hungary’s right-wing Prime Minister Viktor Orban – who, like Bolsonaro, is considered a close associate of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – has said his country will open a “diplomatic office” in Jerusalem, though stopped short of promising a full-service embassy.
Despite Israel encouraging other countries to relocate their embassies to Jerusalem – and announcing it would build a new “embassy complex” which could house nine diplomatic missions for the purpose – the international community has generally opted not to follow President Trump’s controversial move.
