Trump Does It Again - Kosovo Will Be The First Muslim-Majority Country To Open An Embassy In Jerusalem
Israel Today
September 6, 2020
Serbia has announced that it will relocate its embassy to Jerusalem,
as will its neighboring country of Kosovo, after Israel agreed to
recognize and establish full diplomatic relations with the break-away
Muslim nation.
The two historic announcements were made as part of
a normalization agreement between Serbia and Kosovo brokered by US
President Donald Trump and signed at the White House on Friday.
Serbia, which said it will relocate its embassy by July 2021, is the first European country to open an embassy in Jerusalem.
Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanked Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic
for “the decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and to
transfer to it his country’s embassy.”
He also thanked Trump for
“his contribution to this achievement. We will continue efforts so that
additional European countries will transfer their embassies to
Jerusalem.”
Trump telephoned Netanyahu during the meeting with
Kosovo Prime Minister Abdullah Hoti and congratulated the two leaders on
their decision to establish full diplomatic relations.
“Kosovo
will be the first Muslim-majority country to open an embassy in
Jerusalem. As I have been saying in recent days, the circle of peace and
recognition of Israel is expanding and additional countries are
expected to join it,” Netanyahu stated.
Israel Foreign Minister
Gabi Ashkenazi welcomed Serbia’s announcement as “an important and
courageous step that testifies to the depth of relations between Israel
and Serbia and will lead to the strengthening of the friendship between
the two nations.”
Israel views the decision of Serbia and Kosovo
to establish embassies in Jerusalem “as a symbolic step towards
promoting peace between these countries. The city of Jerusalem, the
eternal capital of the State of Israel, will constitute a bridge of
peace to the entire world,” he added, calling on other countries to
follow in their footsteps and “move their embassies to Jerusalem, the
capital of Israel.”
Ashkenazi also thanked Trump and the US administration for leading the move and “for its regional and international leadership.”
“The
US administration continues to lead to significant diplomatic
breakthroughs, both in our relations with Serbia and Kosovo, as in the
promotion of normalization and the historic peace agreement between
Israel and the United Arab Emirates. Israel has no better ally than the
United States,” he said.
Israel’s Ambassador to the United
Nations, Gilad Erdan, celebrated the development as “another
breakthrough, another Muslim country normalizing ties with Israel.”
“The
establishment of relations with Kosovo is an impressive achievement,
and will soon lead to more Muslim countries choosing peace with Israel
and leaving the rejectionist Palestinians isolated,” he tweeted.
Czech President Miloš Zeman, who has long campaigned for the
relocation of his country’s embassy to Jerusalem, welcomed the
announcement by the two countries.
Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion
welcomed the move and said that the capital “is the natural place of all
the embassies located in the country and I believe that in the coming
years more countries will move their missions to Jerusalem.”
The Czech Republic has a cultural and trade center in Jerusalem, and Brazil and Honduras have trade offices in the capital.
Guatemala opened an embassy in the city in May 2018 a day after the US became the first country in the world to do so.
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