The South Pacific country of Fiji inaugurated its embassy in Jerusalem on Wednesday, becoming the seventh nation to have its diplomatic mission in the capital of Israel.
”The fact that you have come here and you have put your embassy in Jerusalem, you recognize a truth that everybody should recognize but few governments have done so far: that this has been our capital for 3,000 years since the days of King David,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at the inauguration ceremony.
“The special bond with your great nation is deeply revered by the people of Fiji,” said its prime minister, Sitiveni Rabuka, who traveled to the Jewish state from halfway around the world with a delegation of his senior government ministers for the inauguration. “The opening of our embassy is a great testament to the enduring connection between our two peoples.”
Rabuka, who took office three years ago, first announced the move in February. He heads a three-party government that includes the right-wing Christian Sodelpa Party, one of whose leaders’ demands was that Fiji open an embassy in Jerusalem.
“You are paving the path of truth,” Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar told the Fijian leader at a reception at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, expressing disbelief at how other nations around the world still try to deny the Jewish people’s biblical roots to the historic city. “You are a true friend of Israel.”
He added that “Jerusalem is the eternal capital and beating heart of the Jewish people. Today, Fiji lays a stone in its ancient walls.”
Rabuka, who also serves as foreign minister, in turn invited Netanyahu to visit the archipelago in the South Pacific Ocean, northeast of New Zealand and two-thirds of the way from Hawaii to New Zealand.
The move also follows a decades-long campaign by an evangelical organization—the International Christian Embassy in Jerusalem—through its network of churches across the Southern Pacific.
Six countries have their embassies in Israel’s capital: the United States, Guatemala, Honduras, Kosovo, Paraguay and Papua New Guinea.
All other nations that maintain ties with Israel have their embassies in Tel Aviv or its suburbs, due to the political sensitivities of Jerusalem.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to move the American embassy to Jerusalem in May 2018 set the stage for other countries to follow suit. The Hamas-led terrorist attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and Israel’s ensuing war against the terrorist group based in the Gaza Strip, have temporarily derailed such moves.
