The South Pacific island nation of Fiji has approved plans to inaugurate an embassy in Jerusalem later this year, the country’s deputy prime minister said on Wednesday.
“We are absolutely excited about coming to Jerusalem and we most definitely will be there this year,” Deputy Prime Minister Viliame Gavoka told JNS in a telephone interview.
He said that the initiative—which was originally planned for last year but got delayed by the war against Hamas in Gaza—was approved by the country’s Cabinet on Tuesday.
Fiji’s Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka confirmed the plans during a meeting last week with Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference.
“I commend the Republic of Fiji’s government for its historic decision to open an embassy in Jerusalem, the eternal capital of the Jewish people,” tweeted Sa’ar.
Six countries currently have their embassies in Israel’s capital—the United States, Guatemala, Honduras, Kosovo, Paraguay and Papua New Guinea.
All other countries that maintain ties with Israel have their embassies in Tel Aviv or its suburbs.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to move the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem in 2018 set the stage for other countries to follow suit, with additional nations expected to make similar announcements in the near future.
