Portugal will move embassy to Jerusalem if it is the capital of two states
by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent
(Worthy News) –
Portugal’s Foreign Minister Santos Silva has stated his country will move its embassy to Jerusalem if the city becomes the capital of both Israel and a Palestinian state, All Israel News (AIN) reports. Silva made his statement in an interview with the Jerusalem Post Monday, during a two-day official visit to Israel.
According to AIN, the Foreign Minister’s announcement may represent a shift in Europe’s longstanding refusal to acknowledge that Israel has any claim to any part of Jerusalem. Notably, AIN observed, Portugal will soon be in a position to influence other EU member states on the embassy issue, as the country takes over the six-month rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union in January.
Emphasizing its impact on relations between Israel and the EU, Silva said it was good that Israel agreed to suspend its West Bank annexation plans in return for normalization deals with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.
“It was important that the normalization process meant suspension of the annexation plans,” Silva told the Jerusalem Post. “It allowed us to see future conversation and cooperation with Israel in a much more positive way,” he said.
Portugal has no plans to follow the US in moving its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem ahead of a peace deal with the Palestinians, the Jerusalem Post reports. Nevertheless, when the Post asked Silva if Jerusalem’s King David Hotel, where he was staying, is part of Israel, he replied: “I think it’s a matter of fact.”
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