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United States Vice President Mike Pence has sought to put pressure on Paraguay's recently elected president to reconsider his decision to move the country's embassy in Israel from the occupied city of Jerusalem to Tel Aviv. Pence's office said Thursday after Asuncion announced plans to shift the diplomatic mission back to Tel Aviv, that President Mario Abdo should stick to his predecessor's decision to move the embassy.
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Paraguay Wednesday dealt a blow to Israel's quest to have Jerusalem recognized as its capital, which appeared to have gained some traction this year when the United States, followed by Guatemala and Paraguay, relocated embassies there.
Most countries do not recognize Israeli sovereignty over the entire city since it goes against international law and treaties, and which undermines the prospects for peace in the region.
Pence, who played a major role in President Donald Trump's decision to move the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv, spoke Wednesday to Paraguayan President Abdo, who was elected on August 15.
Pence "strongly encouraged" Abdo to follow through with Paraguay's commitment to move the embassy to Jerusalem "as a sign of the historic relationship the country has maintained with both Israel and the United States," Pence's office said in a statement.
Former Paraguayan President Horacio Cartes opened the new embassy in Jerusalem on May 21, just days after the United States and Guatemala did.
Hours after Paraguay announced its change Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded by ordering the closure of Israel's embassy in Paraguay.
The statement from Pence's office did not say how Abdo responded to the vice president's request.
It said only that Abdo "underscored Paraguay's lasting partnership with Israel and the leaders agreed to work towards achieving a comprehensive and lasting solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict."
Abdo Wednesday defended his decision as part of an effort to support "broad, lasting and just peace" among Israelis and Palestinians.
Trump reversed decades of U.S. Middle East policy. The status of Jerusalem, which has sites holy to Jewish, Muslim and Christian religions, is one of the thorniest obstacles to forging a peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians.
Israel claims all of the city as its capital, including the eastern sector annexed after the 1967 war in a move not recognized internationally.
The Palestinians aspire to have East Jerusalem as the capital of the future state they hope to establish in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip. Negotiations between the two sides broke down in 2014.
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