Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke on Tuesday night with Paraguayan President-elect Santiago Peña and congratulated him on his election victory.
The two men expressed their commitment to strengthening bilateral relations, noting that this would promote economic growth and prosperity for both countries.
Netanyahu also commended Peña’s stated intent to return the Paraguayan embassy to Jerusalem immediately following his inauguration in August.
In May 2018, Paraguay announced that it would follow then-U.S. President Donald Trump’s lead and relocate its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, becoming the third country to do so after Guatemala and the United States.
Then-President Horacio Cartes attended the embassy opening. Netanyahu at the time called the decision a “bold stance in international affairs.”
However, Cartes’s successor, Mario Abdo Benítez, reversed course after reviewing the decision.
In response, Netanyahu instructed the Foreign Ministry to close Israel’s embassy in the South American nation.
Ties began to thaw, however, a year later when Asunción designated Hezbollah and Hamas as terrorist groups.
Peña, a member of the ruling conservative Colorado Party, secured nearly 44% of the vote in the April 30 election, beating out center-left challenger Efraín Alegre and avoiding a runoff.
The Colorado Party has dominated the political scene in the landlocked nation for more than 70 years.
Netanyahu and Peña agreed to meet soon.
