Honduras becomes the fourth country to open an embassy in Israel’s capital, Jerusalem.
Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez and Prime Minister Naftali Bennett inaugurated the Latin American country’s new embassy in Jerusalem on Thursday. The Honduran embassy was previously located in Rishon LeZiyon, near Tel Aviv.
“I am here today with our delegation to inaugurate the Embassy of Honduras in Jerusalem, the eternal capital of Israel,” Hernandez said. “I sincerely wish that the next president of Honduras, no matter what party he is from, maintains this decision. I will fight for this.”
Hernandez’s four-year term as president ends later this year.
Bennett expressed his appreciation for the Honduran move, telling Hernandez, “The Jewish people have a long memory, and you will be written in the pages of history as someone who took a courageous action and the right action for the State of Israel. Thank you.”
Honduras relocates embassy to Jerusalem
The dedication was Bennett’s first face-to-face meeting with a foreign leader since becoming Prime Minister.
In 2017, the U.S. relocated its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a move bitterly opposed by the Palestinians. Since then, Guatemala and Kosovo have done likewise, while Serbia, Malawi and the Dominican Republic announced their intentions to open embassies in the Israeli capital.
All of those embassies are located in western Jerusalem. The Honduran embassy is located in a technology park in the western Jerusalem neighborhood of Malha.
Most of the world refuses to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, saying the city’s final status must first be resolved with the Palestinians, who want the city to be the capital of a future Palestinian state. Almost all the countries that have diplomatic relations with Israel maintain their embassies in the Tel Aviv area.
On the sidelines of the embassy dedication, the Israeli and Honduran Foreign Ministers, Yair Lapid and Lisandro Rosales respectively, signed memorandums of understanding broadening cooperation in the areas of health, education, agriculture, water use, and innovation.
Israel plans to open an embassy in the Honduran capital, Tegucigalpa. Eldad Golan Rosenberg will serve as Israel’s ambassador to Honduras. He was one of 36 diplomats whose appointments were approved by the cabinet on Sunday.
(World Israel News).