Czech Republic opens de facto embassy to Israel in west Jerusalem

“We, the Czech Republic, are opening here in Jerusalem on Washington Street our diplomatic representation,” Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš said as he inaugurate the new office together with Israeli Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi on Thursday.

He clarified that the country’s embassy is still located in Tel Aviv, but explained that the new office would be a branch of that embassy.

“We will have a full fledged diplomatic mission here in Jerusalem,” Babiš said. “It will deal with a lot, ranging from politics, economics cooperation to consular agenda and other topics. It will have its permanent staff and work under the lead of our embassy in Tel Aviv. 

“It represents another milestone in our cooperation and gives evidence that we see the importance of this great city,” he said, adding that it would strengthen the ties between the two countries.

Most of foreign embassies are located in the Tel Aviv area, as a statement by the international community that they do not recognize that Jerusalem, even west Jerusalem, is Israel’s capital. 

Most of the international community holds that east Jerusalem should be the capital of a future Palestinian state.

But many countries also fail to acknowledge that west Jerusalem, which is within the pre-1967 lines, is part of sovereign Israel.

The US in 2017 declared its recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and relocated its embassy there in 2018. To date, only Guatemala has followed suit. A small number of other countries have pledged to relocate their embassies to Jerusalem, but have not done so. An additional small number have opted to open representative offices in Jerusalem as a de facto sign of recognition.

Two years ago, the Czech Republic opened a cultural and trade center in west Jerusalem. On Thursday, it upgraded its diplomatic presence.

Ashkenazi thanked the Czech Republic, noting that the two men were “standing in the city center of Jerusalem the capital city of the state of Israel. We are adding another stone to its wall,” he said.

“I want to thank the entire Czech government and the prime minister for leading the change in Europe toward the city of Jerusalem as a whole and the connection to the state of Israel,” Ashkenazi said.

He also thanked the Czech Republic for its active role in combatting antisemitism.

The opening of the diplomatic mission, he said, occurred after the paradigm shift brought about by the US-brokered Abraham Accords that led to Israeli normalization deals with four Arab countries.

“The change has forged an area of peace and ended an era of conflict. I am talking about the Abraham Accords. It is suitable to begin an era of peace with recognition of truth, a historical truth that the city of Jerusalem has, for more than 3,000 years, been the beating heart of the Jewish people and its only capital,” Ashkenazi said.