The Czech Republic joins the United States in setting up a diplomatic outpost in Jerusalem. They will be shifting one of their delegates from Tel Aviv to be stationed there, CBN News reports. The move will be permanent, according to the Czech Republic’s main diplomatic office in Prague, but it also has nothing to do with the ongoing peace talks in the middle east.
According to a statement obtained by CBN News, the officials in Prague asserted that “The establishment of this office has nothing to do with the ongoing peace process in the Middle East, does not anticipate its results or change the long-term Czech position in this process.”
Prague officials also made it clear that the move will not be to set up an embassy, unlike what the United States has decided to do. But the move is welcomed by Israel, with Israel’s Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi stating, “This is an important step that is indicative of the friendship between the two peoples and the recognition of Jerusalem as the eternal capital of the State of Israel and the Jewish people.”
This was seconded by Daniel Meron, Israel’s ambassador in Prague, who told The Times of Israel, “As an Israeli and a Jerusalemite I am proud to serve as the ambassador of Israel to the Czech Republic, a country that speaks the truth against the singling out of Israel in international forums.”
The move comes in the midst of a peace treaty brokered by President Trump between Jerusalem and Sudan which, according to the White House, will “rebuild trust with our regional partners and identify their shared interests, moving them away from the conflicts of the past,” and “begin negotiations on cooperation agreements in agriculture, economy, trade, aviation, migration issues, and other areas of mutual benefit.”
The Czech Republic has been an ally of Israel’s and was even one of the few countries to stand up for Israel in the International Criminal Court after the United Nations decided to sue Israel for war crimes. The Czech Republic argued that the United Nations stepped out of line because Palestine is not a state.
Photo courtesy: Sander Crombach/Unsplash
John Paluska has been a contributor for Christian Headlines since 2016 and is the founder of The Daily Fodder, a news outlet he relaunched in 2019 as a response to the constant distribution of fake news.
