Guatemala will move its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem on May 16, two days after the U.S. Embassy makes the same move, Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales told a conference in Washington on Sunday.
"I would like to thank President Trump for leading the way. His courageous decision has encouraged us to do what is right," Morales said at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee's annual policy conference, according to a translation of his remarks on the pro-Israel lobbying group's website.
He said his decision to return the Guatemalan Embassy to Jerusalem "strongly evidences Guatemala's continued support and solidarity with the people of Israel."
Guatemala was one of only a handful of countries that backed U.S. President Donald Trump's December decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital, and it is the first country besides the United States to set a date for moving its embassy there. Trump's move reversed decades of U.S. policy, upsetting the Arab world and Western allies.
Earlier that day, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met Morales at Blair House, the official White House guest residence where Netanyahu and his wife, Sara, are staying in Washington during their five-day U.S. visit, and thanked him for the recognition.
"Thank you for everything you're doing, for recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital. I hope soon you will move your embassy to Jerusalem; we hope," Netanyahu said.
Morales replied, "It is an honor, and it is the right thing to do."
The two also discussed deepening bilateral ties and cooperation. Morales invited Netanyahu to visit his country. Netanyahu thanked him for the invitation and also invited him to visit Israel.
The status of Jerusalem is one of the thorniest obstacles to forging a peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians, who want east Jerusalem as their capital.
The international community does not recognize Israeli sovereignty over the entire city, home to sites holy to the Jewish, Muslim and Christian religions.
The United States is an important source of assistance to Guatemala, and Trump had threatened to cut off financial aid to countries that supported the U.N. resolution condemning the recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital.
Prior to 1980, Guatemala and a dozen other countries maintained embassies in Jerusalem. Israel's passage in June 1980 of a law proclaiming Jerusalem its "indivisible and eternal capital" led to a U.N. Security Council resolution calling on countries to move their embassies to Tel Aviv, prompting the transfer.
Morales, a former television comedian with an important base of conservative Christian support in the Central American country, became embroiled earlier this year in a dispute with the United Nations when a U.N.-backed anti-corruption body in Guatemala tried to impeach him.
Although Morales avoided impeachment, he failed in an attempt to expel the head of the International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala, after criticism from the United Nations, the United States and the European Union.
