Had Delayed The Submission Of A Trust Letter Of The Israeli Ambassador, Chile's President Generalized The Plan To Open An Embassy In Palestine

JAKARTA - Chilean President Gabriel Boric has announced the country's plans to open an Embassy in Palestine.

The left-wing leader, who took office in March, made the announcement during a Christmas celebration with Palestinian community members in Chile.

The South American nation is expected to accommodate the largest number of Palestinians outside the Arab world, with an estimated 300,000 to 500,000.

"One of the decisions we make as a government, I don't think we have published it yet is, we will increase the level of our official representative in Palestine," said President Boric, launching The National News December 23.

"We will open an embassy under our government," he continued.

Dozens of countries have representative offices in the West Bank, but few have official embassies, including Venezuela, Tunisia, and Oman.

The move will make Chile the fourth Latin American country with full diplomatic representation in Palestine.

President Boric said, increasing the status of representatives there were "very basic, very simple steps that today were not carried out, namely respecting international law."

Chile recognized Palestine as a country and supported entry to UNESCO in 2011. Previously, Chile opened a representative office for the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah in April 1998, citing i24News.

Earlier, President Boric had delayed the receipt of a new Israeli ambassador to Chile, in connection with the death of Palestinian teenager Onday Salah who was shot by Israeli soldiers last September, according to Israel Hayom.

In addition, Israel Hayom and The Jerusalem Post said President Boric was a boycott supporter of Israel or BDS, as well as comments against Israel.

It is known that President Boric (36) is Chile's youngest leader. He was profiled by Time magazine this year as "millennial president" and "new left wing leader".