Colombia opens embassy to ‘Israel’ in Jerusalem
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Colombia on Wednesday officially opened its embassy in Jerusalem, joining a small group of countries including the United States in taking the symbolic step of backing ‘Israel’ in its claim over the holy city.
The vast majority of countries keep their embassies to Israel in Tel Aviv on the grounds that the status of Jerusalem will be settled in a final resolution of the ‘Israeli’-Palestinian conflict.
"This is an important date for the State of Israel. It's also an important date for the city of Jerusalem," ‘Israeli’ Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said during a ceremony while signing the Colombian embassy's guest book.
Colombia's new hard-right president, Abelardo de la Espriella, in July announced that he would move his country's embassy to Jerusalem, a sharp shift from his leftist predecessor who criticised ‘Israel’ over the assault on Gaza.
President Donald Trump shattered international consensus in 2018 during his first term by moving the US embassy to Jerusalem, which is home to ‘Israel's’ parliament, prime minister and most other major governmental institutions.
Since Trump's move, only a handful of small, US-aligned countries have followed suit -- Fiji, Guatemala, Honduras, Papua New Guinea and Paraguay.
Kosovo and Somaliland, which are not member-states of the United Nations, have also opened what they consider their embassies in Jerusalem.
Argentine President Javier Milei, another right-wing Latin American who is an outspoken supporter of ‘Israel’, has promised to move his country's embassy to Jerusalem.
The status of Jerusalem is one of the thorniest issues in the ‘Israeli’-Palestinian conflict.
‘Israel’ occupied east Jerusalem and annexed it in 1967, in a move not recognised by the vast majority of the international community.
In August, Colombia's new hard-right government recognised ‘Israel's’ claim over the Golan Heights, which it seized from Syria in 1967.
The US was until then the only country to recognise ‘Israel's’ annexation of the territory in 1981.
The United Nations maintains that the plateau is Syrian territory under ‘Israeli’ military occupation.
