PRAGUE (Reuters) – The Czech Republic said on Wednesday it would add a diplomatic presence at its Jerusalem office next year, a move the foreign ministry said was aimed at strengthening services for Czech citizens in Israel rather than opening a new embassy.
The central European country has long been one of Israel’s staunchest supporters in the EU, and its president, Milos Zeman, backed the idea of moving the Czech embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. But no action has been taken yet.
Israel welcomed the Czech statement and considers all of Jerusalem as its capital, although most countries do not recognize it. The Palestinians seek to make the eastern part of the city, which Israel captured in the 1967 war, the capital of a future state.
Most countries with embassies in Israel have opened embassies in their commercial capital Tel Aviv, given the city’s controversial status and sensitivity in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The Czech foreign ministry said the establishment of a diplomat’s office and honorary consulate in Jerusalem has nothing to do with the ongoing Middle East peace process and does not anticipate its outcome.
Having a diplomat will allow it to offer more services to Czech citizens, such as replacing lost documents, which is currently only possible at the Tel Aviv embassy, the company said.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi tweeted that he had spoken to his Czech counterpart and congratulated him on the decision “underscoring our strong friendship and strategic partnership”.
Israel has become a more popular tourist destination for Czechs in recent years, with tourist numbers roughly doubling in 2019 from around 17,000 in 2016, the Czech tourism ministry said. According to reports, some 160,000 Israelis visited the Czech Republic last year.
Reporting by Jason Horwitt; Editing by Jonathan Otis
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