Honduras will open an embassy in Jerusalem, according to a phone call between Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
While the president expressed hope to open the embassy next year, the Israeli premier said that it will happen by the end of this year.
Acabo de conversar con el Primer Ministro @netanyahu para afianzar nuestra alianza estratégica y acordar la apertura de las embajadas en Tegucigalpa y Jerusalén respectivamente.
— Juan Orlando H. (@JuanOrlandoH) September 20, 2020
Esperamos dar este paso histórico antes de fin de año, siempre y cuando la pandemia lo permita.
🇭🇳🤝🇮🇱 pic.twitter.com/V0qYceKW1N
Earlier, Netanyahu said that Serbia would move its embassy to Jerusalem by next July, becoming the first European country to do so.
The example in that direction was set by the Trump administration. In December 2017, Trump announced that the United States would recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and subsequently moved the US Embassy to the city - the move, which drew international condemnation.
Another Latin American state, Guatemala, followed the US a few days later after the American embassy was opened in Jerusalem in May 2018.
Jerusalem is seen as holy by the three major Abrahamic religions – Christianity, Judaism and Islam. Both Israel and Palestine see Jerusalem as their capital, and the status of the city has long been regarded as a matter that must be resolved through a Palestinian-Israeli peace process.
