Laaulialemalietoa Polataivao Schmidt addresses the gathering at the Sāmoa branch of the Interntational Christian Embassy Jerusalem this week. Photo: Sāmoa Government Facebook.
Photo: Sāmoa Government Facebook.
Sāmoa is set to become the third Pacific nation to have an embassy in Jerusalem.
Prime Minister Laaulialemalietoa Polataivao Schmidt told a gathering of the Sāmoa branch of the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem on Tuesday he’d instructed the country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs to begin work on the opening of an office in Jerusalem.
He said he wanted the embassy up-and-running this year.
The move follows the establishment of Fiji’s embassy in Jerusalem last year, and the opening of Papua New Guinea’s embassy in the city in 2023.
Only a handful of countries recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel – it is disputed territory between Israelis and Palestinians.
In discussing his decision, Laaulialemalietoa talked about Sāmoa’s connections to Israel.
He touched on the meeting he had with Israel deputy foreign minister Sharren Haskel while receiving medical treatment in New Zealand last year.
“I am very grateful when the [deputy] Minister of Foreign Affairs came all the way from Jerusalem to visit me when I was sick in New Zealand,” he said.
“It was a blessing for me to know that Israel has also had an eye [on] Sāmoa, because we had a lot of connection in many ways.”
Haskel was in New Zealand briefly in November following a trip to Fiji and Papua New Guinea.
Fiji’s embassy, in September, was met with mixed reactions, with the coordinator of the Fiji Women’s Crisis Centre saying Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka was “not on the right side of history”.
Fiji’s government called it “a strategic step” to enhance cooperation between the two nations, and reaffirmed its support for a peaceful two-state solution “where both Israelis and Palestinians can live in dignity and security”.
“Fiji has maintained longstanding diplomatic relations with Israel while also supporting the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinian people,” it said.