The international community has refrained from placing its embassies in west Jerusalem, saying the status of the city should be determined through final-status negotiations for a two-state solution. The few countries that had embassies in Jerusalem closed them in 1980, to protest the Knesset’s passage of Basic Law: Jerusalem, Capital of Israel, which anchored in a Basic Law Israeli sovereignty in the city over the pre-1967 lines.In December, Trump announced that the United States recognizes Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and pledged to relocate the American Embassy.His words are understood to refer solely to west Jerusalem.To date, only Guatemala has committed to follow the US’s example.Honduras and Romania have also spoken of such a move, but no final decisions have been made.Last week, Romanian Prime Minister Viorica Dancila submitted a draft proposal for the relocation to her cabinet.On Wednesday, at the start of her two-day visit to Israel, Dancila spoke with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about the relocation and he thanked her for her efforts.But approval would be needed from Romanian President Klaus Iohannis, who has opposed the move.Dancila is in Israel for the first time since she entered office in January, to bolster ties with Israel and to prepare for a joint Israeli-Romanian cabinet meeting that will take place in Romania later this year.Romanian and Czech steps toward relocating their embassies are particularly significant because they mark a break with the 28-member European Union that likes to take a unified stand on such matters.The Czech Foreign Ministry on Wednesday said its latest steps on this issue were in keeping with EU policy that holds that Jerusalem is the future capital of both an Israeli and a Palestinian state.The opening of an honorary consulate “in no way prejudges the final agreement concerning Jerusalem, the same way as it is not being prejudged by diplomatic representations of several European countries that are seated in east Jerusalem,” the ministry said.Thank you President Zeman for you promise to move the Czech Republic's embassy to Jerusalem, the eternal capital of Israel. You are a true friend and you will be remembered in the history of the Jewish people as a hero.
— Tzipi Hotovely (@TzipiHotovely) April 25, 2018