A general view shows the Dome of the Rock (L) and the Western Wall (C) in Jerusalem’s Old City December 6, 2017. REUTERS/Ammar Awad Reuters
Guatemala has announced plans to relocate its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. The President of Guatemala, Jimmy Morales, revealed the decision after a phone conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on December 24.
“We talked about the excellent relations we have had as nations since Guatemala supported the creation of the State of Israel,” Morales said in a Facebook post, adding that one of the most relevant issues “was the return of the Guatemalan Embassy to Jerusalem.”
Morales said he had instructed the Guatemalan authorities to start “the necessary respective co-ordination” before moving the embassy.
Israel occupied the east of Jerusalem in the 1967 Middle East war and considers the entire city as its capital. The Palestinians claim East Jerusalem as the capital of their future state. The city’s final status is meant to be discussed in the latter stages of peace talks.
On December 6, US President Donald Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital sparking a new round of the tensions in the region. On December 21, 128 countries voted in favour of a non-binding UN General Assembly resolution calling on the US to drop its recognition of Jerusalem.
