Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana inaugurated Israel’s newly reopened embassy in Paraguay on Wednesday, ahead of the Latin American country’s planned relocation of its embassy to Jerusalem later this year.
The sequence of events was an unflinching boost of support for Israel in Latin America at a time when the Jewish state has been facing international opprobrium over the nearly year-old war in the Gaza Strip triggered by the Hamas terrorist attacks on Oct. 7.
Ohana, who is also traveling to neighboring Argentina, addressed the Paraguayan parliament on Tuesday in the presence of bereaved families, becoming the second only Israeli parliamentary speaker to be afforded such an honor in Latin America since the establishment of the modern State of Israel in 1948.
Paraguayan Foreign Minister Rubén Ramírez Lezcano told JNS last week that the Latin American country will open its embassy in Jerusalem by the end of 2024. He added that preparations were underway for a state visit by Paraguayan President Santiago Peña to Israel this fall for the embassy inauguration.
Holding a picture of murdered hostage Ori Danino, 25, as his father, Elhanan, sat in the room, Ohana told the Paraguayan parliament: “Ori is not just Elhanan’s son. These are our children.”
He urged the international community to pressure Hamas to release the approximately 100 hostages still being held in Gaza.
“Mr. Speaker, when you return to your country with your delegation, give a message from us to the parents of the victims and the hostages: You are not alone,” says Ohana’s Paraguayan counterpart, Raúl Luís Latorre Martinez.
“We support you. Even if we are the only ones to support you, we will support you and stand by our brother—Israel.”
The two parliaments also signed a Memorandum of Understanding for cooperation, and Martinez gave Ohana Paraguay’s top congressional award.
Paraguay first moved its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem in 2018, following then-President Donald Trump’s lead and becoming the third country to do so after the United States and Guatemala.
Months later, the embassy was returned to Tel Aviv, setting off a diplomatic crisis with Israel. The surprise decision led Israel to shutter its embassy in Asunción, which is now being reopened.
Long history of ties to the Jewish state
During his election campaign last year, Peña pledged that he would return the embassy to Jerusalem.
“The State of Israel recognizes Jerusalem as its capital,” he said. “The seat of the parliament is in Jerusalem, the president is in Jerusalem. So who are we to question where they establish their own capital?”
Landlocked Paraguay has a long history of friendship with Israel, dating back to its vote for the establishment of the Jewish state at the United Nations in 1947.
Five countries currently have their embassies in Israel’s capital: the United States, Guatemala, Honduras, Kosovo and Papua New Guinea. All of the other countries that have ties with Israel maintain their embassies in Tel Aviv or in Tel Aviv suburbs due to the political sensitivities over the holy city.
Trump’s landmark decision to move the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem in 2018 set the stage for other countries to follow suit in the following years, with additional nations expected to make similar announcements after a delay caused by the war against Hamas.
On Friday, the Knesset speaker will visit Argentina and meet with Javier Milei, who has also pledged to move his embassy to Jerusalem.
