The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has announced plans to relocate its embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem in a move widely seen as endorsing Israeli sovereignty over the contested city.
The decision was confirmed Thursday following President Felix‑Antoine Tshisekedi’s visit to Israel where he and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged to strengthen diplomatic ties.
The relocation plan dates back to 2023 when Tshisekedi first discussed the move with Netanyahu at the UN General Assembly.
Tshisekedi has long expressed support for Israel, citing his Christian faith and seeking closer alignment with the United States, which moved its embassy to Jerusalem in 2018 under President Donald Trump.
Since then, only a handful of countries, including Guatemala, Honduras, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay and Fiji, have followed suit.
Most nations maintain embassies in Tel Aviv, arguing that Jerusalem’s final status should be resolved through Israeli‑Palestinian negotiations.
Israel captured the eastern part of Jerusalem from Jordan in the 1967 Six-Day War and annexed it, declaring Jerusalem, home to Judaism’s holiest site, to be its eternal, undivided capital.
The UN Security Council has rejected unilateral measures altering the city’s status and urged countries not to establish diplomatic missions there.
The DRC’s announcement comes weeks after Colombia’s new president, Abelardo de la Espriella, also pledged to move his country’s embassy to Jerusalem, underscoring a growing though limited trend among US‑aligned states.
JN/APA