Czech President Miloš Zeman, a strong supporter of Israel, started his three-day visit in Jerusalem on Sunday, during which he will meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Reuven Rivlin.
He will also address the Knesset and inaugurate the “Czech House,” a cultural center, which is considered as a first step in his plan to move the Czech embassy to Jerusalem. It will house the Czech cultural, investment, trade and tourism offices.
Zeman’s office issued a statement in September saying the Czech House “is to be the first step with the intention to relocate the embassy of the Czech Republic to Jerusalem, in accordance with international law.”
“There will be, I hope, three phases of removal of the Czech Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem,” he said at the time.
However, despite the push by Zeman, Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš, who will have the final say on whether his country’s embassy will be moved to Jerusalem, has in the past indicated that Prague will not break from the European Union’s position on the issue, which strongly opposes the U.S. decision in December to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and move its embassy there.
