Govt goes slow on Jerusalem consulate

Despite stating its intention to open a diplomatic mission in Israel’s contested city of Jerusalem, government has not appointed diplomats for the mission.

The development casts doubt on whether the embassy will be launched any time soon.

A deployment order of diplomats appointed under the Tonse Alliance administration dated February 26 2022, which we have seen, shows that while Jerusalem appears as a mission on the list of foreign missions, its vacancies are yet to be filled despite all other missions being allocated names of envoys to take up office.

In a written response on Friday, Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson John Kabaghe said diplomats heading to Jerusalem are yet to be appointed because government is working on some groundwork.

He said: “The ministry is doing its groundwork to prepare for the establishment of the mission. Since we are doing the groundwork, once finished, government will deploy diplomats accordingly.”

But Kabaghe confirmed that the ministry has so far received funding to facilitate the positing of about 80 diplomats who were appointed several months ago and had been awaiting deployment.

In his maiden State of the Nation Address delivered in Parliament on September 4 2020, President Lazarus Chakwera said Malawi will establish its mission in Jerusalem, a decision that diplomacy and governance analysts described as insensitive and a violation of a United Nations Security Council resolution.

In November 2020, when Malawi’s former Foreign Affairs Minister Eisenhower Mkaka visited Israel, he indicated that the mission would open by summer of 2022, according to an online publication The Times of Israel.

Malawi’s intention to open a mission in Jerusalem has attracted controversy due to the unresolved conflict between Israel and Palestine over East Jerusalem.

Many countries save for United States of America and Guatamala have their missions based in Tel Aviv.

In November 2020, Palestine President Mahmoud Abbas sent a special envoy Hanan Jarrar to Chakwera to hand over a letter of protest against Malawi’s intention to open its embassy in Jerusalem.

Jarrar has now become Palestine Ambassador to Malawi and presented her letters of credence to Chakwera in Lilongwe last Thursday.

In an interview, Jarrar said that during her latest interaction with Chakwera, she did not have time to raise the issue of the mission in Jerusalem, but said they will continue engaging the leadership on the matter.

She said the Palestine President has also extended an invitation to Chakwera to visit their country.

Jarrar said: “I find his invitation to me to present my letters of credence a positive step. That shows commitment and willingness to work with us. Our dialogue will continue and we presented an invitation from President Mahmoud Abbas to President Chakwera to visit Palestine.

“We would love to host him and also knowing that he is the man of faith, Palastine is the cradle for Jesus Christ. We want him not just for an official visit, but also to visit Bethlehem and a church where Jesus Christ was born. He should also visit Jerusalem. We really want to open new dialogue.”