At least 10 other countries are considering following President Trump’s Tel Aviv to Jerusalem embassy move example, according an Israel Radio interview with Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely.
Though the full “list” has not been disclosed, it could follow the U.N. veto vote in which only nine other nations stood with the U.S. The Times of Israel reports Honduras could follow Guatemala as the first two contenders for making the move. Paraguay and Togo respectively abstained and voted against the U.N. resolution denouncing the move and are also reportedly but not confirmed contenders for moving their own embassies to Jerusalem.
The Daily Wire reports that Walla news names Romania and Slovakia as also considering the move, though Romania abstained and Slovakia voted for the resolution. The Daily Wire also reminds us how before the 1980 U.N. Security Council vote (resolution 480), Guatemala, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Haiti, The Netherlands, Panama, Venezuela and Uruguay all had their embassies in Jerusalem. And that they only relocated after the Carter Administration chose to abstain from the vote on resolution 480 urging countries to move embassies to Tel Aviv after Israel again affirmed Jerusalem as its capital in keeping with ancient and modern history.
It is unlikely that this full 1980 list will move their embassies back to Jerusalem, particularly Venezuela, which has grown increasingly closer to Iran, Israel’s arch-enemy. This shift in relations is in sharp contrast to Honduras and Guatemala for example who have recently grown closer to the Jewish State.
Additional embassy moves could fuel tensions in the Middle East, which are already running hot after President Trump’s announcement, or help deflect attention from President Trump as an out-of-touch outlier. They could also help refocus global attention on the underlying and on-going issue at hand: a lack of a two-state solution or any other lasting peaceful resolution between Jewish Israel and its Muslim neighbors, regardless of where the capital is located.
