Fijian PM Sitiveni Rabuka Photo: AFP/Saeed Khan
Fijian Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka's announcement this week that the island nation will open a diplomatic mission in Jerusalem has been labelled "an act of aggression" by Palestine.
On Tuesday, the Fiji government revealed that Cabinet had decided to locate its consulate in Jerusalem, which remains at the center of the Palestine-Israel decades-long conflict.
"Necessary risk assessments will be undertaken by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Defence, in consultation with relevant agencies, prior to and during the establishment process," the Fijian government said.
Fiji and Israel established diplomatic relations in 1970 and have partnerships in security and peacekeeping, agriculture, and climate change.
In a Facebook post on Wednesday, Rabuka said he "received a phone call from my friend Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, expressing his gratitude for Fiji's decision to open a diplomatic mission in Jerusalem."
"Even though very brief, we reaffirmed our commitment to strengthening Fiji-Israel ties," he said.
"I also took the opportunity to express my deepest condolences for the tragic events of October 7, 2023, when Hamas attacked innocent lives in Israel."
Palestine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned Rabuka's decision and is demanding the Fijian government "immediately reverse this provocative decision."
"With this decision, Fiji becomes the seventh country to violate international law and UN resolutions regarding the city's legal and political status and the rights of the Palestinian people," it said in a statement.
"This decision is an act of aggression against the Palestinian people and their rights.
"It places Fiji on the wrong side of history, harms the chances of achieving peace based on the two-state solution, and represents unacceptable support for the occupation and its crimes."
The statement added that Fiji's move "blatantly defies UN resolutions at a time when the occupying power is escalating its attacks against Palestinians across all of the Palestinian Territory, attempting to displace them from their homeland."
The Ministry said that it would continue to take political, diplomatic, and legal action against countries that open or move their embassies to Jerusalem.
"It will work to hold them accountable for their unjustified actions against the Palestinian people and their rights."
In September 2024, Fiji was one of seven Pacific Island nations that voted against a United Nations resolution to end Israel's occupation of Palestine.
