Paraguay has reversed a decision to move its embassy from Tel Aviv to occupied Jerusalem after just three months prompting anger from Israel which responded by shuttering its embassy in Asunción and recalling its ambassador.
The South American country announced in May that it would follow Donald Trump’s rabble-rousing lead by relocating the mission to the holy city all of which Israel claims as its capital.
Former president Horacio Cartes personally inaugurated the new diplomatic site. The Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at the time that Paraguay the third country after the United States and Guatemala to make the move had taken a “bold stance in international affairs”.
However Paraguay’s new president Mario Abdo Benítez who took office last month reviewed the choice and his foreign minister told reporters on Wednesday that the decision had been changed.
“Paraguay wants to contribute to an intensification of regional diplomatic efforts to achieve a broad fair and lasting peace in the Middle East” Luis Alberto Castiglioni said.
Shortly after Netanyahu’s office responded by saying it will close its Paraguay embassy and recall its ambassador for consultations. “Israel views with great severity the unusual decision by Paraguay that will strain the ties between the countries” a brief statement said.
Diplomats had warned that Trump’s December announcement could see a return to violence in the region. On the day Washington’s embassy was opened in occupied Jerusalem – attended by Trump’s daughter Ivanka and her husband Jared Kushner – Israeli forces shot and killed 58 Palestinians protesting against the event.
