Qatar on Tuesday blasted Guatemala’s recent decision to relocate its embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Occupied Jerusalem three weeks after the U.S. President Donald Trump recognized the city as the capital of Israel.
“The Guatemalan decision runs contrary to the international consensus embodied by the UN General Assembly’s recent overwhelming rejection of the recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital [by the U.S.] and the assembly’s call to refrain from establishing diplomatic missions there” read a Tuesday statement issued by Qatar’s Foreign Ministry.
“We consider this decision [by Guatemala] to be null and void and of no legal significance” it added going on to voice hope that Guatemala would reconsider the move.
The statement reaffirmed Qatar’s firm and long-standing stance in support of the Palestinian cause and its strong commitment to Palestinians’ right to establish an independent state on the 1967 borders with Jerusalem as its capital.
On Sunday following a phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales announced that his country — following Washington’s lead — would move its Israel embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
The following day the Palestinian Foreign Ministry blasted the move as a brazen act of disrespect to the collective positions of international alliances and groups to which Guatemala is a party.
Morales’s declaration came some three weeks after U.S. President Donald Trump announced his decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital — a move that has drawn condemnation and protest from across the Arab and Muslim world.
