Prague has established a Jerusalem branch of its embassy in Israel against the wishes of the Palestinian Foreign Ministry, who called it “a blatant attack on the Palestinian people and their rights, a flagrant violation of international law.”
Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš visited Jerusalem for the inauguration of the embassy, and referred to the new building as a “milestone in our co-operation,” adding that Israel was a “strategic partner” of the Czech Republic.
The Czech Republic was one of the countries which supported Israel last month in an International Criminal Court (ICC) pre-trial regarding the investigation of war crimes in Palestinian territories. The country stood with Israel in demanding that no investigation should be able to take place.
Babiš reiterated that on Thursday when he said “the Czech Republic doesn’t consider Palestine to be a state, therefore the court has no jurisdiction over it.”
Officially though, the Czech Republic supports a “two-state” solution to the Israel/Palestine conflict. It’s not clear whether Babiš is reneging on these statements, or if the new Jerusalem embassy office somehow fits into their two-state plan.
Ahmed Aboul Gheit, Secretary-General of the Arab League, (formally known as League of Arab States), said that “the legal status of Jerusalem will be affected by the decision of one country or another to open representative offices. East Jerusalem is an occupied land under the International law.”
The Palestinian Foreign Ministry has for decades desired for Jerusalem to be the capital of the Palestinian State but has lost progress in recent years following Donald J. Trump’s establishment of the US embassy in Jerusalem, and Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales doing the same only 2 days later.
Featured image: Andrej Babiš inaugurating a branch of the Czech Embassy in Tel Aviv in Jerusalem on March 11, 2021 via Vlada.cz.
