Old City Jerusalem
Old City JerusalemiStock

The Romanian government on Thursday approved a plan to transfer the state's embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. The approval came as Israelis celebrated the Jewish State's 70th anniversary.

According to reports in local media, the decision includes timetables for implementing the plan. However, the timetables have not been published.

The leader of Romania’s ruling Social Democratic Party, Liviu Dragnea, said that the country should “seriously consider” moving the Romanian embassy in Israel to Jerusalem for practical reasons following US President Donald Trump's decision to relocate the US embassy in Israel to Jerusalem.

Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah met with the Romanian representative to the PA Thursday morning in an apparent bid to forestall the relocation of another embassy to Israel.

Hamdallah claimed that "such a step would constitute a violation of the rights of the Palestinians and would be contrary to international resolutions." He added that "the transfer of the Romanian embassy would "further remove the chances for peace."

Last week, Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely met in Bucharest with Romania's Foreign Minister as part of her diplomatic campaign to promote the transfer of foreign embassies to Jerusalem.

"This is a historic window of opportunity following the move of the American Embassy to Jerusalem. It is time to choose to stand on the right side of history and be one of the pioneer countries to move their embassy to our capital, Jerusalem,” Hotovely said.

The Romanian Foreign Minister responded by saying that his country would assess the situation and positively consider the issue of moving its embassy to Jerusalem.

The US embassy is scheduled to open in Jerusalem on May 14, the Gregorian anniversary of Israel's founding. In addition, Guatemala will open an embassy in Jerusalem two days later, on May 16.