Brazil committed to move embassy to Jerusalem in 2020: Israeli PM Netanyahu

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that Brazil will follow the United States and move its embassy to Jerusalem in 2020. Previously, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro had expressed his intention of moving his country's embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. However, senior officials later backtracked for fear of damaging trade ties with Arab countries.

Netanyahu claimed that the assurance to move the embassy came from the President's son and lawmaker Eduardo Bolsonaro. He was here to attend the opening ceremony of a Brazillian trade mission to Israel in Jerusalem. Eduardo said his father, before travelling, “told me that for sure, as a commitment, he’s going to move the embassy to Jerusalem.” There was however no mention of a specific date.

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Later, PM Benjamin Netanyahu issued a statement saying Eduardo Bolsonaro told him they had "committed to moving Brazil's embassy to Jerusalem in 2020". So far, only America and Guatemala have moved their embassies to Jerusalem. In 2017, US President Donald Trump broke global consensus by recognising Jerusalem as Israel's capital and moved the US embassy there the following May.

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Core of the Israeli-Palestinian feud

Jerusalem is one of the holiest cities among Abrahamic faith – Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Israelis have long held that the entire city is the capital of the Jewish state, a claim outrightly rejected by Arabs. The city was divided into East and West with the former under Palestinian control. However, Israel annexed East Jerusalem in the Yom Kippur war in 1967. This annexation has long been held as an "occupation" by the international community and the Palestinians say they want the Eastern part as their capital of a future Palestinian nation. Israel has rejected this and that has dragged on the decades-old feud between the two parties. India, like most others, has its embassy in Tel Aviv. Israeli government offices, like its Parliament, are however located in Jerusalem.

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New trade office in Jerusalem

Inaugurating the Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency (APEX) office in Jerusalem on Sunday, Eduardo Bolsonaro mentioned the "beautiful history between Brazil and Israel". Netanyahu described the moment as "promising" and pointed out that "the opening of the APEX office in Jerusalem is part of what has been agreed in the strengthening of relations between Israel and Brazil and of President Bolsonaro's commitment to open an embassy in Jerusalem next year". Netanyahu thanked the Brazilian president for supporting Israel in international organizations and emphasized the "incredible potential of cooperation between the two countries," for which, he said, the new office will contribute enormously.

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(With agency inputs)