When the small Latin American country of Paraguay decided Sept. 5 to return its embassy from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv, senior Palestinians officials in Ramallah were not totally surprised. They had done the hard coordinating work long before the announcement was made, and they were sure it was coming.

Along with Guatemala, Paraguay was one of the two countries that followed in the footsteps of the Donald Trump administration to move its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Former President Horacio Cartes, a businessman and close friend of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, came personally to Israel to inaugurate the embassy May 21 — a week after the United States made its controversial decision.

Counselor Hanan Jarrar, assistant to the Palestinian foreign minister of the Americas and the Caribbean, told Al-Monitor that the decision to return the embassy to Tel Aviv was the culmination of hard work behind the scenes. “We began receiving hints and suggestions early on that the newly elected Paraguayan administration was not happy with the decision. We were told early on that the decision by former President Cartes was done without even consulting with President-elect of Paraguay Mario Abdo Benitez, who was elected a month earlier on April 22.”

It would be four months before the newly elected president would be sworn in. Benitez, of Lebanese origin, was sworn in as president of Paraguay on Aug. 25, 2018.