The global consensus is against recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel until the Palestinian conflict is resolved.
Israel and Kosovo established diplomatic ties on Monday, with the Muslim-majority country recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
At a reception held over Zoom in Jerusalem and Pristina, Israeli Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi and his Kosovo representative Meliza Haradinaj Stublla signed a liaison agreement.
Ashkenazi also said he had approved “Kosovo’s formal request to open an embassy in Jerusalem”.
The normalization and embassy moves come after Israel last year broke a series of treaties with former US President Donald Trump to establish diplomatic relations with Arab states, including the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan.
These agreements, collectively known as Abraham Accords, began criticism in many major Muslim countries.
But unlike Kosovo, the Arab parties to all the Abraham Accords have insisted that their diplomatic missions to Israel in Tel Aviv.
That position is in line with a global consensus against recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel until the Palestinian conflict is resolved.
Trump in 2017 surprised viewers by saying that the United States would move the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
The embassy’s move in May of the following year, from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, was celebrated in Israel but has been criticized elsewhere.
So far, Guatemala is the only other country other than the US that operates an embassy in Jerusalem.
Jerusalem remains at the heart of decades-long Middle Eastern conflict, with the Palestinian Authority (PA) demanding that East Jerusalem – which had been illegally occupied since 1967 – become the capital of the Palestinian state.
The incoming administration of President Joe Biden has said it will keep the U.S. embassy in Israel in Jerusalem, and will continue to recognize the city as the capital of Israel.
Kosovo, Serbia and diplomatic ties with Israel
In September, Trump announced a conference originally convened to conclude a treaty between Kosovo and Serbia’s former warlord enemy that Kosovo and Israel would establish diplomatic ties.
The most attractive part of the summit was an announcement by Kosovo that it would recognize Israel together, with Serbia saying it would follow Washington’s lead in moving the embassy to Jerusalem.
So far, however, Serbia has failed to honor its promise, with some officials saying the agreement was not binding.
Kosovo also said it was ready to establish its Israeli mission in Jerusalem, in exchange for Israeli recognition, while trying to legitimize greater 2008 independence from Serbia and statehood.