Colombia on Wednesday officially opened its embassy in Jerusalem, joining a small group of countries including the United States in taking the symbolic step of backing Israeli sovereignty in the contested holy city.
The vast majority of countries keep their embassies to Israel in Tel Aviv on the grounds that Jerusalemis under occupation and the status should be resolved through a diplomatic process.
"This is an important date for the State of Israel. It's also an important date for the city of Jerusalem," Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said during a ceremony while signing the Colombian embassy's guest book.
Colombia's new hard-right president, Abelardo de la Espriella, in July announced that he would move his country's embassy to occupied Jerusalem, a sharp shift from his leftist predecessor who criticised Israel over its genocida of Gaza.
President Donald Trump shattered international consensus in 2018 during his first term by moving the US embassy to Jerusalem, which is home to Israel's parliament, prime minister and most other major governmental institutions.
Since Trump's move, only a handful of small, US-aligned countries have followed suit: Fiji, Guatemala, Honduras, Papua New Guinea and Paraguay.
Kosovo and Somaliland, which are not member-states of the United Nations, have also opened what they consider their embassies in Jerusalem.
Argentine President Javier Milei, another right-wing Latin American who is an outspoken supporter of Israel, has promised to move his country's embassy to Jerusalem.
Israel occupied east Jerusalem and annexed it in 1967, in a move not recognised by the vast majority of the international community or international law.
In August, Colombia's new hard-right government recognised Israel's claim over the Golan Heights, which it seized from Syria in 1967. The US was until then the only country to recognise Israel's annexation of the territory in 1981.
The United Nations and the rest of the world maintain that the plateau is Syrian territory under Israeli military occupation.