Israel announced Thursday that Colombia will open an embassy in Jerusalem next week, a move that places the South American nation among a small group of countries with diplomatic missions in the contested city that both Israel and the Palestinians claim as their capital.
Speaking at a conference in Jerusalem, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said the inauguration of Colombia's embassy would take place next Wednesday. He praised the expansion of ties with the region.
"Next Wednesday, we will inaugurate the Colombian embassy," Saar told conference attendees.
A Colombian Foreign Ministry official in Bogota told AFP that the country's foreign minister, Omar Bula Escobar, will travel to Jerusalem on Sunday, ahead of the inauguration ceremony.
Colombian President Abelardo De la Espriella, who was sworn in in August, pledged during his campaign to maintain close ties with Israel. After taking office, he restored diplomatic relations between Colombia and Israel. Colombia had previously severed ties with Israel over the war in Gaza.
The announcement comes as a small but growing list of countries has chosen to base its diplomatic relations with Israel in Jerusalem.
Since 2018, the United States, Guatemala, Paraguay, Kosovo, Honduras, Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Nauru and Somaliland — an entity whose independence only Israel recognizes — have opened embassies in the city.
Other countries with diplomatic ties to Israel still keep their embassies in Tel Aviv, since Jerusalem is not recognized internationally as Israel's capital.
"We will work hard because this is a diplomatic battle over the truth. And the truth is that Jerusalem has always been the capital of a nation," Saar said, rejecting Palestinian claims to the city.
The Israeli foreign minister also said the Democratic Republic of Congo will open an embassy in Jerusalem "very soon" and hinted at another embassy opening.
"I think with the possible outcome in Brazil, they could take a similar step," he said after right-wing Senator Flavio Bolsonaro won the first round of the country's presidential election.
In Colombia, protesters took to the streets in Bogota on Wednesday to oppose the new right-wing government's policy toward Israel, including the decision to open an embassy in Jerusalem.
"When diplomatic relations with Israel were severed, the message was that we would not become a country complicit in their atrocities," Nicolas Isaza, a protest participant, told Al Jazeera.
"Today, our government no longer draws a line against the atrocities taking place in Palestine," he added.
