Guatemala is to move its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, President Jimmy Morales has announced, following US President Donald Trump's controversial decision on the holy city. After speaking with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Morales messaged Guatemalans on his Facebook page Sunday, saying "one of the most important topics was the return of Guatemala's embassy to Jerusalem," from Tel Aviv where it is currently located.
"For this reason I am informing you that I have given instructions to the foreign ministry that it start the necessary respective coordination to make this happen," Morales wrote. Guatemala's leader made the announcement on Christmas Eve, three days after two-thirds of UN member states rejected Trump's decision to have the United States recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital.
Netanyahu on Monday hailed the decision, saying other nations would follow Washington's lead. "Other countries will recognize Jerusalem and announce the relocation of their embassies. A second country did it and I repeat it: there will be others, it's just the start and it's important," Netanyahu said in a statement.
The Palestinian foreign ministry meanwhile slammed Guatemala. "It's a shameful and illegal act that goes totally against the wishes of church leaders in Jerusalem" and of a non-binding UN General Assembly resolution condemning the US recognition, the ministry said in a statement.
In all, 128 nations voted to maintain the international consensus that Jerusalem's status can only be decided through peace negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians. Only eight countries stood with the United States in voting no to the resolution held in the UN General Assembly, among them Guatemala and fellow Central American country Honduras.
Guatemala and Honduras are both reliant on US funding to improve security in their gang-ridden territories. The two nations are, along with El Salvador, in what is known as the Northern Triangle of Central America. Violence, corruption and poverty have made them the main source of illegal migration to the United States, which is giving them $750 million to provide better conditions at home.
Morales, like Trump, was a television entertainer with no real political experience before becoming president of Guatemala in 2016. On Friday, Morales foreshadowed the decision he was to make regarding Jerusalem, as he defended his government's vote at the UN backing the United States. "Guatemala is historically pro-Israeli," he told a news conference in Guatemala City.
"In 70 years of relations, Israel has been our ally," he said. "We have a Christian way of thinking that, as well as the politics of it, has us believing that Israel is our ally and we must support it." Morales's position has become fragile in recent months because of allegations of corruption against him being investigated by a special UN-backed body working with Guatemalan prosecutors.