Qatar has called on Brazil's President-elect Jair Bolsonaro to reverse his decision to relocate his country's embassy in Israel to what the Persian Gulf state called "the occupied Jerusalem city."
In a statement citing the U.N. General Assembly's refusal to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital, alongside the U.N.'s call for countries not to establish diplomatic missions there, Qatar's Foreign Ministry cautioned that moving the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem would be a departure from the international consensus.
Officials in the Arab world have expressed concern over the Brazilian initiative, which they fear could prompt other South American countries to follow suit.
In an interview with Israel Hayom published Thursday, Bolsonaro said: "Israel is a sovereign state. If you decide on your capital city, we will act in accordance. When I was asked during the campaign if I'll do it [relocate the embassy] when I was president, I said yes, and that you're the ones who decide on the capital of Israel, not other people.
"As for the Palestinian Embassy [in Brazil], it was built too close to the presidential palace," he continued. "No embassy can be so close to the presidential palace, so we intend to move it. There's no other way, in my opinion. Other than that, Palestine first needs to be a state to have the right to an embassy."
Later that day, Bolsonaro doubled down on his remarks on Twitter, writing: "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."
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called Bolsonaro's announcement "a historic, correct and moving step."
