Netanyahu and Guatemala president talk up embassy move

‘It is an honor and the right thing to do,’ says Jimmy Morales, who has vowed to relocate his country’s mission to Jerusalem

WASHINGTON — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales on Sunday that he hopes Morales will follow up his country’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital by moving its embassy there.

“Thank you for everything you’re doing, for recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital,” Netanyahu said to Morales, before a bilateral meeting in Washington’s Blair House, “and I hope soon you’ll move your embassy to Jerusalem. We hope.”

“It is an honor and it is the right thing to do,” the 48-year-old head of state replied.

Morales announced his plans to move Guatemala’s embassy to Jerusalem in December, shortly after US President Donald Trump’s December 6 announcement recognizing Israel’s capital and setting in motion plans to move the US embassy there. Later, his was one of only nine nations that voted against a United Nations resolution condemning the US for that decision.

Last month, the Trump administration announced it will open its new Jerusalem embassy in May — to coincide with the 70th anniversary of Israel’s founding.

A State Department official told The Times of Israel at the time, “The Embassy will initially be located in Arnona [in south Jerusalem], on a compound that currently houses the consular operations of Consulate General Jerusalem. At least initially, it will consist of the Ambassador and a small team.”

A ribbon-cutting ceremony is planned for mid-May. Israel proclaimed independence on May 14, 1948.

Hadashot TV news reported on Sunday that Morales is planning to announce, after his meeting with Netanyahu, that Guatemala will again follow the US’s lead and open its embassy in Jerusalem then, as well.

The Israeli premier is in the US capital to address the annual AIPAC conference on Tuesday. But he will first meet with Trump on Monday.

Ahead of his flight out of Israel on Saturday night, he said he would speak with Trump “first and foremost” about Iran and the 2015 nuclear deal, which Netanyahu has vehemently opposed, as well as Iran’s “aggression in our region” and “advancing peace” between Israelis and Palestinians.

The Trump team is expected to unveil its proposal for peace between the sides in the coming months, though it has not given a timetable yet for when.