RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The Uruguayan government decided to set up a diplomatic representation as a business office in the city of Jerusalem, according to sources of the Executive Branch, according to Subrayado. The resolution comes when one of Israel’s top government officials, Deputy Prime Minister Gideon Saar, is in Montevideo.
Saar met on March 15 with the Uruguayan Minister of Foreign Affairs, Francisco Bustillo, and then with President Luis Lacalle Pou.
“Both authorities held a fruitful working meeting in which they reviewed the topics of the bilateral agenda and the main issues of regional and multilateral interest. On the other hand, they agreed to take the necessary and pertinent steps to accelerate the conclusion of the bilateral agreements currently under negotiation between both countries,” stated the Uruguayan Foreign Ministry.
The installation of the office has not yet been scheduled, but it is a resolution taken by the Lacalle Pou administration, according to government informants.
The newspaper El Observador reported that President Lacalle Pou transmitted this decision to the Israeli government and leaders of the local Jewish community.
Saar arrived in Rio de la Plata to participate in the ceremony marking the 30th anniversary of the terrorist attack on the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires, which left 29 dead and dozens wounded on March 17, 1992.
The installation of the Uruguayan commercial office in Jerusalem does not imply the transfer of the diplomatic representation, which is currently located in Tel Aviv.
Countries like the United States, Honduras, Guatemala, and Kosovo have installed their embassies in the Israeli capital. Meanwhile, Brazil opened a commercial office in Jerusalem, and President Jair Bolsonaro expressed his intention to move the embassy to that city.