Israel has shut down its embassy in Paraguay after the small Latin American country reversed its decision to move its own embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem,

Paraguay delighted Israel’s government in May by announcing that it was following Donald Trump’s lead and bringing its embassy to Jerusalem, which Israel considers its capital. ASUNCION (Reuters) - Paraguay will move its embassy in Israel back to Tel Aviv, reversing a May decision by former President Horacio Cartes to move the diplomatic site to Jerusalem, the South American country’s foreign minister told reporters on Wednesday. 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. Explaining the new Paraguayan move, the country’s foreign minister, Luis Alberto Castiglioni, said: “Paraguay wants to contribute to an intensification of regional diplomatic efforts to achieve a broad, fair and lasting peace in the Middle East.”

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.”

The status of Jerusalem is one of the thorniest obstacles to forging a peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians. Trump broke with decades of US policy by moving the US embassy to Jerusalem on May 14, infuriating Palestinians and intensifying protests on the Gaza border, with 60 killed in clashes with Israeli forces that day. The following week, Cartes traveled to Israel to inaugurate the new embassy personally and Paraguay became the third country to set its mission in Jerusalem.
Paraguay announces that it will move its embassy in Israel from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv, reversing a May decision to move it from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, citing efforts to achieve peace in the Middle East. In response, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu orders the closure of Israel's embassy in Paraguay.