Guatemalan president-elect says reviewing country’s policy on settlements

MAAYAN JAFFE-HOFFMAN

In a talk before a small crowd, hosted by the Israel Allies Foundation, Giammattei noted that his dream is to make Israel and Guatemala even closer than before.
Guatemala’s president-elect, Alejandro Giammattei, speaks an Israel Allies Foundation conference, December 9 2019 / (photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)

The president-elect of Guatemala, Alejandro Giammattei, said Monday that when he takes office next month he will reexamine the country’s policy on Jewish settlements in Judea and Samaria with a goal of aligning Guatemala’s policy with that of the United States.

Last month, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo designated Israel’s settlements to be “not inconsistent with international law.”
The president, speaking in an exclusive interview with The Jerusalem Post also reiterated a statement he made Sunday in the presence of President Reuven Rivlin that he would designate Hezbollah a terrorist organization upon taking office.

“They are attacking Israel,” the president said of Hezbollah.
In a talk before a small crowd, hosted by the Israel Allies Foundation, Giammattei noted that his dream is to make Israel and Guatemala even closer than before.

Guatemala was the second country in the world to recognize the State of Israel in 1948 – only after the US – and the second country to move its embassy to Jerusalem.

Giammattei said that he supports Israel out of faith: “Those who bless Israel will be blessed,” he told the group, quoting a passage from Genesis.
The president-elect said he has no plans to move the Guatemalan embassy from Jerusalem and he will use his role as the country’s leader to encourage other countries to move their embassies to the capital, as well.