RIO DE JANEIRO (JTA) — Honduras and Paraguay reportedly may join Guatemala in relocating their embassies soon to Jerusalem.
The two Latin American nations said they are both ready “in principle” to proceed with the move on the condition that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu makes an official visit to each of their countries, Israel’s Army Radio reported, citing a “senior Israeli diplomatic source.”
Last week, Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales announced during the annual conference of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee in Washington, D.C., that his country’s embassy would move to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv on May 16, two days after the United States moves its own.
In December, about two weeks after President Donald Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and said he instructed the State Department to begin planning the embassy move, Morales said he would follow suit.
The United Nations General Assembly overwhelmingly voted to condemn the U.S. recognition, but Honduras and Guatemala were among the eight countries to side with the United States. Although Paraguay has expressed pro-Israeli sentiment on a number of occasions, it abstained from the U.N. vote.
In September, Netanyahu made the first visit to Latin America by a sitting Israeli prime minister, but he did not stop in Paraguay or Honduras. In Argentina, he met Paraguay’s former president, Horacio Cartes, who in 2016 had been the first Paraguayan head of state to visit Israel.
Paraguay has distinguished itself among South American countries by supporting Israel in the United Nations and other international forums.
