Honduras to Move Embassy to Jerusalem

israelnationalnews.com

Honduras announced plans to move its diplomatic mission in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, opening a new embassy in the Israeli capital city.

President Juan Orlando Hernandez made the announcement Sunday, during the 2019 American Israel Public Affairs Committee conference in Washington DC.

Speaking at the opening meeting of the conference, Hernandez said his country would “immediately” open an “official diplomatic mission” in the Israeli capital city.

“Honduras will immediately open our official diplomatic mission and this will extend our embassy to the capital of Israel, Jerusalem.”

The Hernandez government had previously floated the possibility of moving the Honduran embassy to Jerusalem in exchange for the upgrading of Israel’s diplomatic mission to Honduras from a consular level to a full embassy.

The cost of maintaining a full-fledged embassy has been estimated at one million dollars a year.

Once Honduras’ embassy move is completed, it will join the US and Guatemala as the only three countries with full-fledged embassies located in the Israeli capital.

Paraguay, which had initially followed the US and Guatemala and moved its embassy to Jerusalem in 2018, later moved its diplomatic mission back to Tel Aviv.

Other countries, including Brazil, Australia, and the Czech Republic, have suggested they may also relocate their embassies to Jerusalem.