Brazil's Bolsonaro hesitates over proposed Jerusalem embassy move

He had reiterated a campaign pledge to follow the lead of Trump in moving mission

A general view of Jerusalem's old city shows the Dome of the Rock in the compound known to Muslims as Noble Sanctuary and to Jews as Temple Mount, October 25, 2015. Reuters

Brazil's president-elect Jair Bolsonaro suggested on Tuesday he was prepared to make a swift U-turn over controversial plans to move the country's Israel embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

Last week, Mr Bolsonaro reiterated a campaign pledge to follow the lead of US President Donald Trump by switching the embassy from Israel's economic and technological hub to its capital.

But on Tuesday, he reeled in his plans claiming "it hasn't yet been decided".

The far-right politician was responding to a question from reporters about Egypt postponing a scheduled visit from Brazil's Foreign Minister Aloysio Nunes.

"From what I know, it's due to a calendar problem," Mr Bolsonaro said during his first visit to the capital Brasilia since winning the October 28 election runoff against leftist opponent Fernando Haddad. He is due to take office on January 1.

"It would be premature for a country to take retaliatory measures against something that hasn't yet been decided."

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Palestinians slam plan to move Brazil embassy to Jerusalem

What Brazil's far right president-elect has in mind for the Middle East

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Mr Bolsonaro's announcement of the embassy move on Thursday provoked ire in the Arab world, with a senior Palestinian official branding the move "provocative and illegal," while a spokesman for Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, called it "hostile".

Mr Bolsonaro tried to downplay the importance of his own plans, claiming "it's not a question of honor" but that "those who decide where the capital of Israel is, are the people, the state of Israel".

Such a move could prove risky for Brazil, though, as it is a major exporter of halal meat to the Arab world.

Jerusalem's status is hotly disputed. Israel occupied the eastern portion of the city, then under Jordanian control, at the end of the Arab-Israeli War in 1967, which pitted it against Egypt, Syria and Jordan.

It later annexed that part of the city in the reunification of Jerusalem, a move that has not been internationally recognised.

An official United Nations resolution from 1947 still proposes the creation of an international regime to run the city, while later ideas have suggested it should be a shared capital for both Israelis and Palestinians.

After Mr Trump's embassy move announcement in December, Guatemala and Paraguay followed suit, although the latter then changed its mind.