In 2018, the Czech President Miloš Zeman promised in a speech on the 70th anniversary of the founding of Israel to do everything in his power to move the Czech embassy to Jerusalem. Last week, Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš finally opened an official diplomatic office in the Holy City. With Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu claiming that Israel has ‘no greater friend in the Eastern hemisphere’ than the Czech Republic, the move has underlined Central Europe’s divergence from the EU when it comes to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The official Czech Embassy still remains in Tel Aviv – but the nation has gone against EU policy by becoming the bloc’s second member to open an official diplomatic branch in Jerusalem. EU leaders have strongly warned member states against making this kind of move, fearing that recognising Jerusalem as the Israeli capital endangers the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. The EU has been critical of Israeli aggression in the West Bank and refuses to recognise any territorial changes between Israel and Palestine since the six-day war in 1967, including Israel’s occupation of East Jerusalem.
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