GUATEMALA CITY — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday praised Guatemala’s decision to move its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. It was the first nation to follow the lead of President Trump in ordering the change.
Netanyahu praised Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales for the decision, announced on Christmas Eve.
‘‘God bless you, my friend, President Morales,’’ he said. ‘‘I told you recently that there will be other countries that would recognize Jerusalem and announce the transfer of their embassies to it. Well, here is the second country and I reiterate: It is only the beginning and it is important.’’
Guatemala was one of nine nations that voted with the United States and Israel on Thursday when the UN General Assembly overwhelmingly adopted a nonbinding resolution denouncing Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem. Trump didn’t set any timetable for moving the US Embassy out of Tel Aviv, and neither did Morales.
On Facebook Sunday, Morales said that after talks with Netanyahu, he decided to instruct Guatemala’s foreign ministry to move the embassy.
Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Malki criticized the decision, saying Morales was ‘‘dragging his country to the wrong side of history by committing a flagrant violation of international law.’’
Malki called it a ‘‘shameless act of lawlessness’’ and ‘‘a brazen act of disrespect and disregard’’ to international alliances of which Guatemala is part.
Guatemala and Israel have long had close ties, especially in security matters and Israeli arms sales to Guatemala.
No other country has its embassy for Israel in Jerusalem, though the Czech Republic and Romania have said they are considering such a move.
Trump upended decades of US policy with his Dec. 6 announcement he was recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
Though Trump said he was merely recognizing reality and not prejudging negotiations on the future borders of the city, Palestinians saw the move as siding with Israel on the most sensitive issue in the Israel-Palestinian conflict.
Israel claims all of Jerusalem as its capital; the Palestinians claim the city’s eastern sector, which was captured by Israel in 1967 and is home to sensitive Jewish, Muslim, and Christian religious sites. Many governments have long said the fate of Jerusalem must be resolved through negotiations.
Trump’s announcement has set off weeks of clashes between Palestinian protesters and Israeli security forces that have left 12 Palestinians dead.
Netanyahu has made great efforts to reach out to Latin America in recent years as part of a campaign to counter longstanding support for the Palestinians at the United Nations.
The resolution passed by the General Assembly declared the US action on Jerusalem ‘‘null and void.’’ The 128-to-9 vote was a victory for Palestinians, but fell short of the total they had predicted. Thirty-five nations abstained, and 21 stayed away from the vote.
Guatemala was one of the first nations to recognize the state of Israel upon its establishment in 1948.
Morales’s decision was seen as an effort to curry favor with Trump and possibly to distract attention from his political problems at home. His brother and his son are under investigation by an anticorruption commission that has been strongly backed by the United States and the United Nations. Morales has clashed with the commission and tried to expel its chief in August before he was stopped by the country’s highest court.
