PM: Jerusalem to remain under Israel’s control forever

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that Israel intends to permanently maintain control over all parts of Jerusalem and will not allow its division.

Netanyahu made these remarks during a special Knesset session, Caliber.Az reports via Russian media. 

The session was held in honour of the visit of Paraguayan President Santiago Peña, who is set to inaugurate his country’s embassy in Jerusalem on December 12.

"Fifty-seven years ago, we unified Jerusalem, and it will never be divided again. Jerusalem will forever remain united under Israel's sovereignty," Netanyahu stated from the parliamentary podium.

"If we are not here, there will be fanatics who bring death and destruction across the entire Middle East. We will not allow this. With the help of the Almighty, Israel will keep Jerusalem united for generations to come," he emphasised.

The status of Jerusalem remains one of the key issues in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Israel took control of East Jerusalem during the 1967 war and insists that Jerusalem is the united and indivisible capital of Israel. The UN Security Council, in Resolution 478 dated August 20, 1980, rejected Israel's claim over East Jerusalem and called on member states to withdraw their diplomatic missions from the city.

In 2018, following a decision by then-US President Donald Trump, the US embassy in Israel was relocated from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Since then, several countries have followed suit, opening their diplomatic missions in Jerusalem, including Guatemala, Honduras, and the unrecognized state of Kosovo. In September 2023, Papua New Guinea also inaugurated its embassy in Jerusalem. 

Initially, Paraguay's diplomatic mission was officially opened in Jerusalem in May 2018, following the United States and Guatemala's lead. However, just four months after Paraguay's presidential elections, the new government decided to relocate the embassy back to Tel Aviv. In response, Israel's Foreign Ministry ordered the closure of its embassy in Asunción, the capital of Paraguay, in September of the same year. With the election of Santiago Peña as president of Paraguay in 2023, an agreement was reached to return Paraguay's embassy to Jerusalem and resume the operations of the Israeli diplomatic mission in Asunción.

By Naila Huseynova