Arab League warns Brazil over Jerusalem moves

CAIRO — The Arab League on Thursday condemned Brazil's opening of a trade office in occupied Jerusalem and warned it against carrying out President Jair Bolsonaro's pledge to move its embassy there. 

The Brazilian leader has said he will follow US President Donald Trump's controversial step of moving his country's mission to Jerusalem, implying recognition of the city as the capital of Israel.

The Latin American country opened its trade mission in Jerusalem Sunday, in the presence of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Bolsonaro's son Eduardo, who confirmed his father was determined to carry make good on his promise.

The Arab League, after an emergency meeting called for by the Palestinians, said it sees Brazil's "unilateral and illegitimate decision [to open the trade office] as biased towards the Israeli occupation and in support of its illegal policies".

The regional bloc also warned in a statement that Brazil's policy shifts "would seriously damage Arab-Brazilian relations and interests".

Israel occupied East Jerusalem in the 1967 War.

It considers the entire city its capital, while the Palestinians see the eastern sector as the capital of their future state.

Most countries have their embassies in the coastal metropolis of Tel Aviv. 

In December 2017, President Donald Trump broke with a decades-long consensus that the city's status should be decided in peace negotiations between the two sides. 

His recognition of the city as Israel's capital and subsequent embassy move in May 2018 sparked Palestinian and Arab outrage.