Arkansas Online

Honduras opens embassy in Jerusalem

JERUSALEM — Honduras on Thursday opened its embassy in contested Jerusalem, becoming the fourth country to follow the U.S. move under former President Donald Trump to move its chief diplomatic mission in Israel from Tel Aviv.

Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez and Israel’s new prime minister, Naftali Bennett, signed several bilateral cooperation agreements in Jerusalem on Thursday.

Israel views the entire city as its unified capital, while the Palestinians want east Jerusalem as the capital of a future state.

The U.S. inaugurated its embassy in the city in 2018, and Guatemala, Kosovo and Honduras followed suit. Paraguay opened its embassy in Jerusalem in 2018, but then reversed course months later. Most countries maintain embassies in Tel Aviv because of Jerusalem’s disputed status — one of the thorniest issues in the Mideast conflict.

Bennett said the opening of the Honduran Embassy in Jerusalem, and the planned reopening of the Israeli Embassy in Tegucigalpa, was “another demonstration of the deep friendship and deep connection” between the two countries. Israel previously had an embassy in Honduras until the 1990s.

International

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2021-06-25T07:00:00.0000000Z

2021-06-25T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://edition.arkansasonline.com/article/281801401931552

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