Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the closure of Israel’s embassy in Paraguay, hours after the Latin American nation’s new government announced it would move its embassy back to Tel Aviv from Jerusalem, Reuters reports.
Paraguay’s foreign minister called Israel’s reaction “disproportionate.” Paraguay President Mario Abdo defended his decision as part of an effort to support “broad, lasting and just peace” among Israelis and Palestinians.
“Paraguay is a country of principles,” Abdo said on Twitter.
Abdo took office last month and belongs to the same conservative party as his predecessor Horacio Cartes, who inaugurated Paraguay’s new embassy in Jerusalem in May.
The Palestinians said their foreign minister, Riyad al-Maliki, met Abdo two weeks ago and hailed Paraguay’s change of mind as “a new Palestinian diplomatic achievement.”
“Minister Maliki exerted a big effort during his meeting with the new president who instructed his foreign minister to arrange the issue,” the Palestinian foreign ministry said in a statement.
Israel acted swiftly after the news broke and a statement in English from the Prime Minister’s office said: “Israel views with utmost gravity the extraordinary decision by Paraguay which will cloud bilateral relations.”