JERUSALEM—The President of Honduras, Juan Orlando Hernandez Alvarado, will light a torch during the ceremony marking Yom Haatzmaut, Israel’s 70th Independence Day. On April 18, at Mount Herzl in Jerusalem.
Hernandez will be the first foreign head of state to participate in the torch-lighting ceremony for Israel’s annual Independence Day celebration.
Hernandez will partake in the event alongside representatives of Israel’s Agency for International Development Cooperation (known in Hebrew by its acronym, MASHAV), where he attended a course in 1992. He is the program’s first graduate to go on to become a president.
MASHAV, which is part of the Foreign Ministry, is responsible for Israel’s foreign aid, cooperation and development and trains people in agriculture, education, medicine, women empowerment and other fields.
In February, Honduras was one of only eight countries that opposed a UN General Assembly resolution condemning US President Donald Trump’s December recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, along with Guatemala, Israel, the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau and Togo. The country has been mulling moving its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.