Guatemala was one of only a handful of countries that backed U.S. President Donald Trump’s December decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, and it is the first country besides the United States to set a date for moving its embassy there. Trump’s move reversed decades of U.S. policy, upsetting the Arab world and Western allies.
Afterward, 128 countries defied Trump by backing a non-binding U.N. General Assembly resolution calling for the United States to drop its recognition of Jerusalem.
The status of Jerusalem is one of the thorniest obstacles to forging a peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians, who want East Jerusalem as their capital.
The international community does not recognize Israeli sovereignty over the entire city, home to sites holy to the Muslim, Jewish and Christian religions.
The United States is an important source of assistance to Guatemala, and Trump had threatened to cut off financial aid to countries that supported the U.N. resolution.
Guatemala, in nod to Trump, moving embassy in Israel to Jerusalem
US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on Friday (Dec 8) that the relocation of the US embassy to Jerusalem would probably not take place for at least two years.