Israel Considers Closing Its Consulate in Istanbul and Somaliland Opens Its Embassy in Jerusalem

SadaNews Translation - While Israel is considering closing its consulate in Istanbul, Somaliland is preparing to open its embassy in occupied Jerusalem.

According to the Hebrew newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth, the Israeli Foreign Ministry is studying the option of closing the Israeli consulate in Istanbul and relying solely on the embassy's presence in Ankara.

Since October 7, 2023, the consulate's premises, along with the embassy, have remained vacant of staff, with diplomats stationed in Bulgaria and all local employees working from home, the site reported, as translated by SadaNews.

The site indicated that there is no consensus among the experts at the Israeli Foreign Ministry regarding the decision to close the consulate in Istanbul. Some specialists view it as a mistake and believe it will be extremely difficult to reopen it later, while others argue that it is a waste of public funds for the consulate to remain empty.

Some stakeholders see the issue of the Jewish community in Istanbul at stake, with an estimated 15,000 Jews residing in this major coastal city in Turkey, and closing the consulate would be a blow to them.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry stated that no decision had been made yet.

In a related context, the Hebrew site noted that Somaliland has decided to open its embassy in Jerusalem, with this move expected to take place next month in the presence of the country’s president, Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi.

This would be the eighth embassy opened in Jerusalem by several countries that recognize the city as the capital of Israel.