Dominican Republic to weigh relocating embassy to Jerusalem

Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi thanked his Dominican Republic counterpart Roberto Alvarez.

NOVEMBER 1, 2020 08:16

Dominican Republic flag (photo credit: PIXABAY) — Dominican Republic flag

(photo credit: PIXABAY)

The Dominican Republic is considering relocating its embassy to Jerusalem, the country’s Foreign Ministry announced over the weekend.

To date only two counties have embassies in Jerusalem; the United States and Guatemala.

Recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital has remained a diplomatically sensitive topic and as a result, most countries have placed their embassies in Tel Aviv.

But a number of countries have indicated that they could relocate their embassies to Jerusalem including; Honduras, Brazil, Serbia and the Czech Republic. Kosovo, which does not have an embassy in Israel has spoken of opening one in Jerusalem.

Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi thanked his Dominican Republic counterpart Roberto Alvarez during a phone conversation between the two on Friday.

Ashkenazi tweeted about the conversation stating, “I congratulate the FM of the Dominican Republic, @RobalsdqAlvarez on the decision of the Dominican Government to consider moving their embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. I thanked him during our phone call yesterday for this important decision and for the many years of friendship between our two countries.”

1/2I congratulate the FM of the Dominican Republic, @RobalsdqAlvarez,on the decision of the Dominican Government to consider moving their embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
— גבי אשכנזי - Gabi Ashkenazi (@Gabi_Ashkenazi) October 31, 2020

Alvarez then retweeted Ashkenazi’s statement.

The Dominican Republic originally had placed its embassy in Jerusalem but then relocated it to Tel Aviv following Israel’s decision in 1980 to formally cement its annexation of east Jerusalem.

The country’s decision to weigh returning its embassy to Jerusalem follows an announcement by the United States that it would not make territorial distinctions with regard to areas over the pre-1967 lines. In addition, the US took the dramatic step Thursday of agreeing to allow Americans born in Jerusalem to register their country of birth as Israel.

Stay updated with the latest news!

Subscribe to The Jerusalem Post Newsletter

Subscribe Now

In its statement to the press the Dominican Foreign Ministry said that it would consider the fact that the embassy had once been in Jerusalem as well as the fact that Israel’s seat of government is located in Jerusalem.