President-elect Jair Bolsonaro has reiterated that he plans to move Brazil’s embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, joining the United States and Guatemala.
The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, quickly welcomed the plan.
In a tweet Thursday, Bolsonaro said: “As previously stated during our campaign, we intend to transfer the Brazilian Embassy from Tel-Aviv to Jerusalem. Israel is a sovereign state and we shall duly respect that.”
It was the first time since being elected Sunday that Bolsonaro referred to his plan to move the embassy.
In Israel, Netanyahu issued a statement praising Bolsonaro. “I congratulate my friend Brazilian President-Elect, Jair Bolsonaro, for his intention to move the Brazilian Embassy to Jerusalem, a historic, correct and exciting step!”
Netanyahu spoke to Bolsonaro earlier this week, congratulating him on his victory and inviting him to visit Israel.
Q&AWhy is recognising Jerusalem as Israel's capital so contentious?
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Of all the issues at the heart of the enduring conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, none is as sensitive as the status of Jerusalem. The holy city has been at the centre of peace-making efforts for decades.
Seventy years ago, when the UN voted to partition Palestine into Jewish and Arab states, Jerusalem was defined as a separate entity under international supervision. In the war of 1948 it was divided, like Berlin in the cold war, into western and eastern sectors under Israeli and Jordanian control respectively. Nineteen years later, in June 1967, Israel captured the eastern side, expanded the city’s boundaries and annexed it – an act that was never recognised internationally.
Israel routinely describes the city, with its Jewish, Muslim and Christian holy places, as its “united and eternal” capital. For their part, the Palestinians say East Jerusalem must be the capital of a future independent Palestinian state. The unequivocal international view, accepted by all previous US administrations, is that the city’s status must be addressed in peace negotiations.
Recognising Jerusalem as Israel’s capital puts the US out of step with the rest of the world, and legitimises Israeli settlement-building in the east – considered illegal under international law.
If Bolsonaro follows through on his pledge, Brazil would become the third country to have an embassy in Jerusalem, after the US and Guatemala. Paraguay briefly moved its embassy to Jerusalem as well, only to move it back to Tel Aviv after its new president, Mario Abdo Benítez, was elected.
The Palestinians claim East Jerusalem, which was captured by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war, as the capital of a future state. Israel claims all of the city, including the eastern sector, home to Jerusalem’s most important religious sites as its eternal capital.
Most countries maintain embassies in Tel Aviv, saying the final status of Jerusalem must be determined through negotiations.
Some Brazilians have raised concerns about the idea, saying it would hurt Brazil’s relations with Muslim nations.
Former Brazilian ambassador to the US Rubens Barbosa has warned that such a move could hurt Brazil’s poultry exports. He said that Brazil “would be throwing away $6bn per year in poultry sales to Arab countries”.