Honduras Moves Its Israel Embassy to Jerusalem

Honduras officially moved its embassy to Jerusalem in an inauguration ceremony attended by Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and visiting Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández, becoming the fourth country to do so.

In March 2019, Honduras recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and on September 1st, 2019, opened its commercial office there in what was seen at the time as a possible prelude to an embassy relocation.

“Mr. President, you are a true friend of Israel,” Bennett told Hernández. “The Jewish people have a long memory, and you will be recorded in the pages of history as having done a brave and justified deed for the State of Israel.”

Under the Trump administration, the United States moved its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem in May 2018.  Guatemala and Kosovo then followed suit.

“We hope to continue building the solid relationship between our two countries,” Hernández tweeted after the event, and referred to Jerusalem as “the eternal capital of Israel.”

Honduras became “one of the two countries in Latin America, and one of the five in the world, that most often abstains from the resolutions that Israel opposes,” Hernández noted.

Honduras was also one of a handful of countries around the world that voted against the U.N. resolution opposing the U.S. embassy move to Jerusalem.

Bennett thanked Hernández.

“Under your leadership, Honduras consistently stands by Israel in international institutions when it is not always popular, and sometimes it also involves paying a price,” the prime minister told Hernández. “This is a testimony to our friendship — your willingness to take action… I want to thank you and the public in Honduras for this support.”

The two countries also signed several cooperation agreements on agriculture, health, education and innovation.

“Cooperation between our two countries is very diverse — from trade to agriculture, water, political and security issues,” said Bennett. “Our goal is to deepen the cooperation and to that end, we have agreed on expanding it to the hi-tech and cyber fields as well as other areas.”