Following an announcement Sunday by Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales that his country has begun work to relocate its embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to the capital of Jerusalem, two more Latin American countries are poised to announce similar plans.
Since President Trump’s historic December 6th declaration formally recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital city and announcing plans to relocate the US embassy to Jerusalem, several other countries have expressed interest in following suit.
A day after Trump’s announcement, Czech President Milos Zeman suggested his country might also relocate its embassy to Jerusalem.
"[President] Trump's decision makes me happy because when I visited Israel four years ago, I said that I would like to transfer the embassy, and that if that happens, we will be the first to do so,” said the Czech president in a television interview.
While the Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis later nixed the proposal, the Czech Republic joined with Hungary announced they recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, and blocked attempts by the European Union to publish a joint statement of foreign ministers lambasting Trump’s December 6th declaration.
Guatemala, a long-time ally of the Jewish state, later indicated it recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, and would move its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Guatemala was one of just nine countries – including the US and Israel – which voted against a recent United Nations General Assembly resolution condemning Israel and slamming American recognition of Jerusalem.
On Tuesday, two more Latin American nations disclosed plans to relocate their embassies.
According to media reports in the Palestinian Authority, the governments of Panama and Honduras both notified the PA leadership of their intentions to move their embassies to the Israeli capital.
Like Guatemala, Honduras voted against the General Assembly resolution last Thursday. Panama was among the 35 member-states which abstained from the vote. The measure passed with 128 votes in favor out of 193 total member states, with 9 opposed, 35 abstaining, and 21 states which refused to cast any vote.