The legation will be the sixth in Israel’s capital.
Etgar Lefkovits
(JNS)
EXCLUSIVE—The Republic of Paraguay will open its embassy in Jerusalem by the end of 2024, in a sign of support for Israel in Latin America, Paraguayan Foreign Minister Rubén Ramírez Lezcano said on Thursday.
The embassy move, which had been planned before the start of the war against Hamas in Gaza, is a diplomatic boon for Israel at a time when it has faced international opprobrium over the 11-month-old war triggered by the Hamas-led Oct. 7 massacre.
Paraguayan President Santiago Peña will travel to Israel for the inauguration of the embassy in Israel’s capital, Ramírez Lezcano said in an interview with JNS.
“It is the government’s intention to open the embassy in Jerusalem before the end of the year,” Ramírez Lezcano told JNS. “Work is being done on the logistical aspects for the opening.”
He added that preparations were underway for a state visit by the president this fall for the opening of the embassy.
“The upcoming embassy move shows that the relationship between Paraguay and Israel is entering a new era of unprecedented bilateral cooperation and growth,” said Leopoldo Martinez, Latin America director of the Washington-based-Israel Allies Foundation.
Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana is scheduled to travel to both Paraguay and Argentina next week, where he will meet the presidents of the two countries, both staunch Israel allies who have pledged to relocate their embassies to Jerusalem.
Back and forth
Paraguay first moved its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem in 2018, following then-President Donald Trump’s lead and becoming the third country to do so after the United States and Guatemala.
However, months later, the embassy was returned to Tel Aviv, setting off a diplomatic crisis with Israel. The surprise decision led Israel to shutter its embassy in Asunción, citing harm the Paraguayan move had caused to bilateral relations.
Election pledge
During his election campaign last year, Peña pledged that he would return the embassy to Jerusalem.
“The State of Israel recognizes Jerusalem as its capital,” he said. “The seat of the parliament is in Jerusalem, the president is in Jerusalem. So who are we to question where they establish their own capital?”
Landlocked Paraguay has a long history of friendship with Israel, dating back to its vote for the creation of the Jewish state at the United Nations in 1947.
Five countries currently have their embassies in Israel’s capital: the United States, Guatemala, Honduras, Kosovo and Papua New Guinea.
All of the other countries that have ties with Israel maintain their embassies in Tel Aviv or in Tel Aviv suburbs due to the political sensitivities over the holy city.
Trump’s landmark decision to move the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem in 2018 set the stage for other countries to follow suit in the following years, with additional nations expected to make similar announcements after a delay caused by the war against Hamas.
Image: From left, Israel Allies Foundation Latin America Director Leopoldo Martinez, Paraguayan President Santiago Peña and Paraguayan Foreign Minister Rubén Ramírez Lezcano in New York, Sept. 18, 2023. Credit: Courtesy of the Israel Allies Foundation.
