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Honduras and Israel to Open Embassies in Jerusalem, Tegucigalpa by End of 2020

Honduras and Israel released a joint statement late Sunday evening saying that the countries would open embassies in each other’s capitals by the end of 2020. According to the statement, “With their flags flying in the capitals of the two countries, Israel and Honduras declare their intention to complete the action plan before the end of the current year, with a mutual opening and inauguration of their embassies in the national capitals, Tegucigalpa and Jerusalem.” Earlier on Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández held a telephone conversation to finalize the plan. While the timing of the move was clear from the official statement, Hernández was less sanguine in a message he released on his official Twitter account, adding the caveat “as long as the pandemic allows it.” Currently, only the United States and Guatemala have their embassies in Israel’s capital city. Most countries have put their embassies to Israel in the Tel Aviv region to avoid taking a position on Jerusalem, which the Palestinians also claim for a state of their own. Honduras operates a commercial section in Jerusalem.