Nauru, a small island nation in the South Pacific, officially inaugurated its embassy in Israel’s occupied Jerusalem on Monday, becoming the ninth country to establish a diplomatic presence there in defiance of international resolutions, according to Anadolu.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar participated in the opening ceremony alongside Nauru’s Vice President and Foreign Minister Lionel Aingimea, as confirmed by the Israeli Foreign Ministry.
During the event, Sa’ar noted that Nauru is the ninth country and the third from the South Pacific to open an embassy in Jerusalem, with additional nations expected to follow suit.
As the world’s third-smallest country, Nauru spans just 21 square kilometers and has a population of approximately 12,000 people.
Aingimea stated that the embassy opening not only strengthens Nauru’s relations with Israel but also sends a clear message to the international community about their position.
Jerusalem currently hosts embassies from the United States, Guatemala, Honduras, Kosovo, Paraguay, Papua New Guinea, Fiji, and the unrecognized Somaliland region of Somalia.
Despite this, the vast majority of countries oppose relocating embassies to occupied Jerusalem, citing violations of international law.
Israel has been intensifying efforts to repair its foreign relations amid global condemnation over its actions in Gaza, which escalated on October 8, 2023.
This context follows the 2017 decision by then-U.S. President Donald Trump to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and move the American embassy there from Tel Aviv.
Palestinians assert that East Jerusalem should serve as the capital of their future state, based on international resolutions that reject Israel’s occupation and annexation of the city since 1967.
The establishment of Israel in 1948 occurred on lands occupied by Zionist militias, resulting in massacres and the displacement of at least 750,000 Palestinians, and Israel continues to oppose the creation of a Palestinian state as mandated by UN resolutions.
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