Will European Countries Move Embassies to Jerusalem?

Anna Azari, Ambassador of Israel to the Czech Republic thinks it is a realistic, but a difficult process for Prague to move its Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. Ambassador Azari spoke to AJC Central Europe Representative in Czechia Tomas Kraus as part of AJC CE’s 7 Minutes from Central Europe series.

Ambassador Azari explained, Czechia is truly one of the strongest and firmest allies of Israel in Europe. We can measure this attitude on different levels such as in voting in favor of Israel or promoting issues important to Jerusalem at international organizations, but it is also visible at a grass root level, between the people of the two nations. Ambassador Azari highlighted, she is experiencing complete cooperation from the Czech government and state institutions regarding her requests, which is completely unique.

Mr. Kraus asked the Ambassador if the “dream of President Miloš Zeman to move the Czech Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem” seems to be a feasible plan, and if so, would other countries follow? According to Ambassador Azari, it is a realistic dream since the Embassy has already opened an office in Jerusalem. Even though the current Czech government supports the idea, the move might be a difficult step, because all attention is now focused on Russia’s war on Ukraine. This is generally true to the whole of Europe. Ambassador Azari is hopeful, but thinks, this might be a difficult process.