Czech President Milos Zeman announced this week that he would visit Israel in November to open a “Czech House” in Jerusalem that will serve as a cultural and business center. According to Czech officials, the opening of the Czech cultural and business center is a first stage towards an opening of a Czech embassy in Jerusalem, the capital of Israel. During the visit, the Czech President is not scheduled to visit the Palestinian territories. Meanwhile, a Czech official confirmed to TV7 that the Czech Republic would indeed open an embassy in Jerusalem but emphasized that the move would only materialize with the consent of both Israel and the Palestinians, and only after a comprehensive peace agreement was achieved. That said, the official stressed that the Czech Republic will work, as it had done in the past, to block anti-Israeli resolutions within the European Union, if they were unwarranted. The Israeli Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem told TV7 that it is studying the report on the Czech decision, yet at this time, no official statement was made available.
