Page "Foreign relations of Honduras" Paragraph 4

In July 2011, President Lobo announced that Honduras would recognise the State of Palestine and support its admission to the General Assembly in September.

This broke with the traditional policy of Honduras, which was to encourage a settlement reached through negotiations.

After the decision was publicised, Israel withheld its ambassador to Honduras and made a formal protest with the Honduran embassy in Tel Aviv.

In response, Lobo defended his intention " from a moral point of view ".

Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki claimed that official recognition would be announced by the Honduran Foreign Ministry on 20 August following the summit of the Central American Integration System ( SICA ) on 18 August.

According to Lobo, the organisation was expected to adopt a co-ordinated position on the issue, but El Salvador, the nation presiding over the summit, refused to include the matter on the official agenda, insisting that discussion should retain a regional focus.

Despite this, Honduras and El Salvador both officially recognised the Palestinian state on 26 August.