Fiji Opens Embassy In Jerusalem in Ceremony With Netanyahu

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar joined Fijian Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka to celebrate the opening of Fiji’s new embassy in Jerusalem, Sa’ar’s office announced Wednesday afternoon.

“A new embassy in Jerusalem, our eternal capital!,” Sa’ar declared in the statement marking the event.

The three leaders stood together for an official photo, with Netanyahu and Rabuka wearing salusalu, the colorful garlands traditional to Fiji.

“I will continue to strengthen Jerusalem’s standing as the capital of Israel. I will also continue working to open and relocate additional embassies to Yerushalayim,” Sa’ar pledged.

Fiji is now the seventh country to establish an embassy in Israel’s capital, following the United States, Guatemala, Honduras, Kosovo, Papua New Guinea, and Paraguay. Argentina has also said it intends to move its embassy from Tel Aviv to Yerushalayim next year.

Earlier in the day, Netanyahu welcomed Rabuka at his Jerusalem office before the ribbon-cutting ceremony, the Prime Minister’s Office reported.

Netanyahu thanked the visiting leader “for his support and steadfast standing alongside Israel, and spoke with him about regional political and security issues,” according to the statement.

Rabuka, who also serves as Fiji’s foreign minister, invited Netanyahu to visit the South Pacific nation, the PMO said.

Rabuka took office in late 2022, heading a coalition that includes the right-wing Christian Sodelpa party, which had insisted on opening an embassy in Yerushalayim as part of its platform.

The embassy launch caps years of lobbying by the Jerusalem-based International Christian Embassy of Yerushalayim, an organization promoting support for Israel throughout Pacific churches.

Until now, only six nations maintained embassies in Jerusalem: the US, Guatemala, Honduras, Kosovo, Papua New Guinea, and Paraguay.