September 5, 2018 — New York
AJC is deeply disappointed by Paraguay’s decision to close its recently opened embassy in Jerusalem and return it to Tel Aviv.
“This diplomatic reversal is shocking,” said Dina Siegel Vann, Director AJC's Belfer Center for Latino and Latin American Affairs. “Paraguay has long been a leader among Latin American nations in advancing cooperative relations with Israel. Opening the Paraguayan Embassy in Jerusalem was indicative of that support. To suddenly reverse the historic decision less than four months later raises a number of questions, including who exerted pressure on Paraguay to do so. It cannot be a coincidence that as Paraguay announces this decision, the Palestinian Authority celebrates and declares it will open an ‘embassy’ in Asunción.”
On May 21, Paraguay became the third country, following the United States and Guatemala, to open its embassy in Israel’s capital.
Paraguay President Horacio Cartes, who came to Israel to dedicate the new embassy, said at the ceremony that moving the embassy to Jerusalem “is just the right thing to do."
