The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has renewed plans to relocate its embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, placing it among a small group of countries that have taken steps to establish diplomatic missions in the disputed city.
The development was announced on Thursday, September 3, 2026, following a visit to Israel by DRC President Félix Tshisekedi, where he held talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
In a joint declaration issued after their meeting, the two countries said they would continue consultations on the relocation of the DRC's diplomatic mission from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
The declaration also said Israel would continue consultations on opening a resident embassy in Kinshasa, the DRC's capital.
The statement did not specify when the Congolese embassy would be moved.
The announcement revives a commitment first made in 2023, when Mr Tshisekedi and Mr Netanyahu agreed that the DRC would move its embassy to Jerusalem while Israel would establish an embassy in Kinshasa. Reuters reported at the time that only a small number of countries had their embassies in Jerusalem, with most maintaining their diplomatic missions in Tel Aviv.
The latest announcement followed Mr Tshisekedi's meeting with Mr Netanyahu in Jerusalem on September 1, according to the joint declaration. The Congolese leader's visit also focused on strengthening relations between the two countries.
The planned embassy relocation carries diplomatic significance because of Jerusalem's unresolved status.
Israel regards Jerusalem as its capital and has its main government institutions there, while Palestinians claim East Jerusalem as the capital of a future Palestinian state. The status of the city remains one of the most sensitive issues in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Most countries have historically avoided locating their embassies in Jerusalem because of the dispute over the city's status, instead maintaining diplomatic missions in or around Tel Aviv.
The United States became the most prominent country to break with that practice when it moved its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem in 2018 under then-President Donald Trump.Guatemala and Honduras have also moved their embassies to Jerusalem, while Fiji, Paraguay and Papua New Guinea are among the other countries that have established diplomatic missions there.
For the DRC, the move would represent a further step in its efforts to deepen relations with Israel under Mr Tshisekedi.
The Congolese president had already taken steps in this direction before the latest announcement. In 2020, he announced plans to appoint an ambassador to Israel after a lengthy period without one and to establish an economic section of the DRC embassy in Jerusalem, although the main embassy remained in Tel Aviv.
The issue returned to the spotlight in September 2023 when Mr Tshisekedi met Mr Netanyahu on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. Mr Netanyahu said after that meeting that the DRC would move its embassy to Jerusalem, while Israel would open an embassy in Kinshasa.
The latest joint declaration therefore appears to revive and advance an earlier commitment rather than represent an entirely new policy.
Israel has welcomed the development. Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon described Mr Tshisekedi's decision as the fulfilment of a vision the Congolese leader had expressed more than a decade ago.
The timing of the announcement also comes as Israel seeks to expand the number of countries maintaining embassies in Jerusalem.
The relocation, however, remains subject to further consultations, with neither government giving a date for when the DRC mission would actually begin operating from Jerusalem.
Until then, the DRC embassy in Israel remains in Tel Aviv.
