Suriname's president said on Thursday the South American country did not have the funds to build an embassy in Israel, reversing an announcement made last month.
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"There is no budget for setting up an embassy of Suriname in Israel," President Chandrikapersad 'Chan' Santokhi told the National Assembly.
Last month, Suriname's foreign minister confirmed the country would open an embassy in Jerusalem, a move that likely would have stirred controversy given the city's role in the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The confirmation drew criticism from some members of the Surinamese parliament.
Currently, only the United States, Honduras, Guatemala, and Kosovo have embassies in the Israeli capital rather than Tel Aviv.
Suriname appointed a non-resident ambassador, Stevanus Noordzee, to Israel in March. Santokhi said Noordzee "will continue to serve, support, give substance to the cooperative relationship, from Suriname."
Santokhi did not rule out the future establishment of an embassy in Israel, but said the country needed "to receive a report [from the foreign minister] and see what the findings are and the recommendations are, and to take follow-up steps based on that."
Suriname, located in the northern part of South America, has territory some eight times larger than that of Israel and is home to approximately 650,000 residents.
The country has a small Jewish community and is some 14% Muslim.
The community numbers some 500 members, most of whom live in the capital city, Paramaribo. One of the community's oldest synagogues was removed almost entirely intact and shipped to Israel, where it is on display at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem.
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