Guatemala follows U.S.A.'s lead in announcing that it will move its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem

Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem.
And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it...
...In that day will I make the governors of Judah like an hearth of fire among the wood, and like a torch of fire in a sheaf; and they shall devour all the people round about, on the right hand and on the left: and Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in her own place, even in Jerusalem...
... In that day shall the Lord defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and he that is feeble among them at that day shall be as David; and the house of David shall be as God, as the angel of the Lord before them.
And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. Zechariah 12:2-3, 6, 8-9

As reported by Fox News, December 24, 2017 (link in original):

Less than a month after President Donald Trump announced the U.S. would move its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv, Guatemala became the first nation to follow his lead, announcing on Christmas Eve that it would move its embassy there as well.

Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales posted to Facebook on Sunday that he'd just spoken with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

"We are talking about the excellent relations that we have had as nations since Guatemala supported the creation of the state of Israel," Morales wrote in the translated Facebook post.

On Nov. 29, 1947, when the U.N. voted to partition the British mandate of Palestine into separate Jewish and Arab states, the countries did not vote in alphabetical order starting with “A.”

Instead, the U.N. put the names of all of the member countries in a hat -- then picked one, started with that country and went in alphabetical order from there.

By sheer chance, the country picked out of the hat, and thus the very first country to vote for the creation of the modern state of Israel, was Guatemala.

This year, Guatemala was one of the countries that did not vote with the United Nations when it declared in a non-binding resolution that Trump's decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel was "null and void."

Nine countries voted "no": Honduras, Micronesia, the Marshall Islands, Nauru, Palau, Togo, Guatemala, the U.S. and Israel.

In addition, 35 countries abstained from the vote and 21 were "absent." In all, 128 countries supported the measure.

U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley, who had warned the U.S. would take names after the vote, singled out the countries that did not vote for the resolution, inviting them to a January reception to "thank you for your friendship to the United States."

No other country has its embassy for Israel in Jerusalem, though the Czech Republic has said it is considering such a move.

Neither the U.S. nor Guatemala specified exactly when its embassy would move.

Netanyahu had predicted others would follow the U.S. lead. He has made great efforts to reach out to Latin America in recent years as part of a campaign to counter longstanding support for the Palestinians at the United Nations.

Trump said he was merely recognizing reality and not prejudging negotiations on the future borders of the city. Israel naturally gave its support while Palestinians saw the move as siding with Israel on the most sensitive issue in the Israel-Palestinian conflict.

Israel claims all of Jerusalem as its capital, while the Palestinians claim the city's eastern sector, which was captured by Israel in 1967 and is home to sensitive religious Jewish, Muslim and Christian sites. Many governments have long said that the fate of Jerusalem must be resolved through negotiations.

Trump's announcement has set off weeks of fighting between Palestinian protesters and Israeli security forces that have left 12 Palestinians dead.

The 128-9 U.N. vote was seen as a victory for Palestinians, but fell short of the total they had predicted.

April 17, 2018 update: As reported by Jonathan Benedek of Breaking Israel News, March 5, 2018 (links in original):

Guatemala will move its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem only a couple days of after the US does the same with its embassy, President Jimmy Morales revealed in an address on Sunday at this year’s annual American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) conference.

“In May of this year, we will celebrate Israel’s 70th anniversary, and under my instructions, two days after the United States moves its embassy, Guatemala will return and permanently move its embassy to Jerusalem,” Morales said.

The Trump administration had announced over a week ago that it would speed up the process of gradually moving the US embassy to Jerusalem in correlation with Israel’s upcoming 70th anniversary. Morales credited Trump with showing initiative and leadership on the issue.

“I would like to thank President Trump for leading the way. His courageous decision has encouraged us to do what is right.”

“It is important to be among the first, but it is more important to do what is right,” he continued. “Therefore, as President of Guatemala and the person responsible for foreign affairs policy of my country, backed by the constitution of the Republic of Guatemala, I decided to return the Guatemalan Embassy to to Jerusalem.”

Morales had noted in his speech that Guatemala was the first country to have an embassy in Jerusalem and as early as 1959, before Israel took back the rest of the capital during the Six Day War in 1967.

“Throughout history, Guatemala has been among the first to make transcendental decisions as it relates to Israel,” the president added.

“This decision, strongly evidences Guatemala’s continued support and solidarity with the people of Israel, and we are sure that many other countries will follow in our steps.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told his Likud party last week that he expects it to only be “a matter of time” before other countries follow the lead of Trump and Morales in moving their embassies to Jerusalem. Canada’s Conservatives have pledged to do just that with the Canadian embassy in Israel, if they return to power in Ottawa after the next election cycle.

May 17, 2018 update: As reported by Jewish Telegraphic Agency, May 16, 2018:

JERUSALEM (JTA) — Guatemala inaugurated its embassy in Jerusalem, the second country to move its main diplomatic mission from Tel Aviv.

Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales attended the opening Wednesday morning of the embassy in the Technological Park of southern Jerusalem’s Malha neighborhood.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomed Morales and his delegation in Spanish with “Buenas Dias,” which means good day in Spanish, before switching to English.

“This is the beginning of something extraordinary, or I would say, the re-beginning of something extraordinary, which is the relationship between Guatemala and Israel,” he said.

Netanyahu noted that Guatemala was the second country behind the United States to recognize Israel’s independence after the partition vote in the United Nations. The United States opened its Jerusalem embassy in the southern Jerusalem’s Arnona neighborhood on Monday.

Netanyahu told Morales that he would visit Guatemala on his next trip to Latin America. Guatemala previously had an embassy in Jerusalem, the first country in the world to open an embassy in the city in 1956. It closed in 1980 following a United Nations Security Council resolution that called for such closures.

Before the ceremony, Netanyahu and Morales held a private meeting. They were scheduled to meet after the ceremony with their entourages.

Paraguay is scheduled to open a Jerusalem embassy on May 21 with its president, Horacio Cartes, due to be in attendance.