Fiji PM inaugurates Israel embassy in Jerusalem

A view of Jerusalem's Old City, with the Dome of the Rock shrine in the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, closed to worshippers after Israel's Homefront Command banned public gatherings following an Israeli military strike on Iran, Friday, June 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

Fijian Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka inaugurated the country’s embassy in Jerusalem on Wednesday, the island nation’s first resident mission in Israel.

“I’d like to acknowledge the special bond and the enduring friendship and relationship that has existed between Fiji and the State of Israel,” Rabuka said following the inauguration at a ceremony held at Israel’s Foreign Ministry in the presence of Foreign Minister Gideon Saar.

Saar welcomed Fiji’s move, calling it a “bold, moral and historic decision”.

Fiji joins a small group of countries that have opened their embassies in Jerusalem, alongside the United States, Guatemala, Honduras, Kosovo, Paraguay and Papua New Guinea, while Argentina has vowed it will follow in their footsteps in 2026.

Most countries have their diplomatic seats in Tel Aviv due to the disputed status of Jerusalem, one of the most delicate issues in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Israel has occupied east Jerusalem since 1967, later annexing it in a move not recognized by the international community.

Israel claims the city as its eternal and undivided capital while the Palestinian Authority wants east Jerusalem, including the Old City, as the capital of a future state.

In 2017, then-U.S. President Donald Trump unilaterally recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, causing Palestinian anger and the international community’s disapproval.

On May 14, 2018, the United States transferred their embassy to Jerusalem.

Two days later, Guatemala announced it would follow suit and transferred its own embassy to Jerusalem.

Papua New Guinea was the only other Asia-Pacific country before Fiji to open an embassy in Jerusalem, in September 2023.