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Colombia to open Jerusalem embassy as Britain compromises on consulate

Colombia will open a new embassy in Jerusalem next week while Britain agreed to scale back its diplomatic mission in the city.

FTMQ World, written by our newsroom0 views

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Israel announced on Thursday that Colombia will open an embassy in Jerusalem next week. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar stated that the Latin American country's mission is set to open next Wednesday. Al Jazeera English reported that most countries currently maintain their Israeli embassies in Tel Aviv due to the disputed status of Jerusalem. [1][2]

The move follows political commitments by Colombian President Abelardo De la Espriella, who promised closer ties with Israel during his election campaign, according to Al Jazeera English. [2]

Separately, overnight actions saw workers remove signage at the British consulate in East Jerusalem. Reports from Al-Monitor and Reuters detail that Israel had ordered the diplomatic post to shut down by Thursday after London planned sanctions against West Bank settlements. [3][4]

Britain and Israel subsequently reached a last-minute compromise to keep the nearly 200-year-old British diplomatic mission open. According to Al-Monitor, the agreement allows the mission to remain operational at a smaller scale under a renamed title. [3][4]

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In short

  • Colombia will open an embassy in Jerusalem next week, according to Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar.
  • Colombian President Abelardo De la Espriella campaigned on a promise of closer relations with Israel.
  • Britain removed signage at its East Jerusalem consulate following a shutdown order from Israel.
  • Britain and Israel agreed to keep the British diplomatic mission open at a reduced scale under a new name.

Sources

Every paragraph above points to the numbered items it rests on. Read the originals here.

  1. [1]Colombian embassy to open in Jerusalem, Israeli FM saysAl Jazeera, 7h ago (the report this story comes from)
  2. [2]Colombian embassy to open in Jerusalem, Israeli FM saysAl Jazeera English, 8h ago
  3. [3]Britain removes East Jerusalem consulate signage as Israeli shutdown order expiresAl-Monitor, 21h ago
  4. [4]Britain removes East Jerusalem consulate signage as Israeli shutdown deadline expiresAl-Monitor, 21h ago

Background

  1. [5]Israel–Oman relations on Wikipedia
  2. [6]List of diplomatic missions of Colombia on Wikipedia
  3. [7]Embassy of the United States, Jerusalem on Wikipedia

Our newsroom writes these reports with the help of software, from the 7 sources listed and nothing else, and checks them against those sources. Facts can still be wrong or move on; the originals are the record. Spotted a mistake? Write to daniel@monsterkong.com.

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Earlier reports of ours on the same people and subjects.

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