Honduras, Paraguay ‘ready in principle’ to move embassies to Jerusalem
By JTAUpdated: MARCH 12, 2018 16:08A general view of Jerusalem shows the Dome of the Rock, located in Jerusalem's Old City on the compound known to Muslims as Noble Sanctuary and to Jews as Temple Mount December 6, 2017.(photo credit: REUTERS)
RIO DE JANEIRO — Two more Latin American nations may soon relocate their embassies to Jerusalem, Army Radio reported, citing a “senior Israeli diplomatic source.”Honduras and Paraguay said they are both ready “in principle” to proceed with the move on the condition that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu makes an official visit to each of their countries. These comments followed Guatemala’s announcement that it would make the move after the United States’ December 6 decision to move its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem later this year.Prime Minister Netanyahu met with the President of Guatemala, embassy to be moved in May, March 4, 2018 (GPO)Last week, Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales announced during the annual conference of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee in Washington, DC that his country’s embassy would move to Jerusalem on May 16, two days after the United States moves its own.In December, about two weeks after US President Donald Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and said that he has instructed the State Department to begin planning the embassy move, Morales stated that he would do the same.The United Nations General Assembly overwhelmingly voted to condemn the US decision with a total of 128 of the UN’s 193 members voting in favor of the resolution. Honduras was one of eight countries to have voted with the US against the motion, as well as Guatemala, Israel, the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau and Togo. Although Paraguay has expressed pro-Israeli sentiment on a number of occasions, it abstained from the UN vote.In September, Netanyahu made the very first visit to Latin America by a sitting Israeli prime minister, but he did not stop in Paraguay or Honduras. In Argentina, he met Paraguay’s former president, Horacio Cartes, who in 2016 had been the first Paraguayan head of state to visit Israel.Paraguay has distinguished itself among South American countries by supporting Israel in the United Nations and other international forums.
