The US embassy won’t be the only foreign mission relocating from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem this spring.
According to a report Sunday evening by Channel 2, Guatemala, which announced plans to transfer their embassy to the Israel capital city in December following President Donald Trump’s historic recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, is expected to layout the time-frame for the embassy move, with the transfer completed this May.
Last month, the US State Department revealed that it is planning to transfer the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem this May, far earlier than previous predictions, which suggested the move would be completed no earlier than late 2019.
To expedite the move, the US will transfer part of the embassy’s operations to a consulate facility already in use in Jerusalem, relocating the ambassador’s office from Tel Aviv to the consulate building. The remaining embassy staff will be transferred to Jerusalem at a later date, after an annex to the current consulate building is prepared for use.
Over the weekend, Guatemala's Constitutional Court rejected a local lawyer's attempt to prevent the government from moving its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem.
Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales, an Evangelical Christian and strong supporter of Israel, is expected to announce a timetable for the transfer of his country’s embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem – a move that is expected to be completed in May.
Morales was scheduled to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu in Washington DC, during the annual American Israel Public Affairs Committee conference.