Crisis between Brazil and Israel worsens, with President Lula declared “persona non grata”

Posted by: 02/20/2024 – 00:24

5 minutes

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva had already caused a storm Sunday, February 18, by accusing Israel of ” Genocide » Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, a comparison between the Israeli attack and the extermination of the Jews by Nazi Germany during World War II. ” What is happening in Gaza is not war, it is genocidePresident Lula told reporters from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where he attended the African Union summit. This is not a war against soldiers. It is a battle between a highly prepared army and women and children. »

” What is happening to the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip has never happened at any other time in history. In fact, this already happened: when Hitler decided to kill the Jews “, Brazil beat the leaderWhile condemning the Hamas attacks, the left wing veteran.

After these reports, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said on Monday that Lula ” Persona non grata » In Israel. ” I informed President Lula Persona non grata Until he apologized and retracted his comments in Israel “, the Israeli diplomatic chief announced during a visit to the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem. He had invited the Brazilian ambassador to Israel.” Brazilian President Lula's comments comparing the Israeli government's righteous war against Hamas, which killed and massacred Jews, to Hitler and the Nazis is an insult to the Jewish people and the state and an extreme anti-Semitic attack. Israel “, he added.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned Sunday's comments “ Shameful and serious “.

one way” Humiliating » Brazil in public?

In response, Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira said: He recalled the Brazilian ambassador in Tel Aviv, Frederico Mayer, for advice on his way to Brazil. » Tuesday, February 20. ” Confronted with the seriousness of the Israeli government's statements this morning, Minister Mauro Vieira […] He invited the Israeli ambassador, Daniel Sonshine » In Rio de Janeiro, the press release of the Brazilian ministry also pointed out.

These notifications are made public A press conference in the presence of the Brazilian ambassador At the Holocaust Museum. For some The diplomats were interviewed by Brazilian channel GloboNewsIt's a way” Humiliating » Brazilian Ambassador Frederico Mayor publicly, therefore, Brazil itself. ” This is not done in diplomacy », added another ambassador Brazilian daily newspaper Folha de São Paulo. Because normally, warnings to ambassadors are given at the presidential headquarters.

Lula's statements have been published so far on the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, a prominent voice of the South and the left, and Lula, who currently holds the rotating presidency of the G20.

Hamas welcomed Lula's comments. What a perfect description (her) People are affected » In Gaza and express ” The enormity of the crime » Made by Israel.

The 78-year-old leftist Brazilian president condemned the October 7 Hamas attack as an act. Terrorist “. But since then he showed himself a lot Criticism of Israel's Retaliatory Military Campaign.

Earlier, First Lady Rosangela da Silva, who defends the president, made it clear that Janja's message was that Lula did not want to retract her comments or apologize to Israel, as Netanyahu's government is demanding. Lula's Controversial Opinion” Genocide refers to the government and not the Jewish people “, he commented on X, targeting the Israeli authorities. She expressed ” pride » As for her husband, Since the beginning of this conflict in the Gaza Strip, peace has been preserved and mainly the right to life of women and children, who constitute the majority of victims. “.

Lula's statements also provoked reactions from the Brazilian Jewish community. The Brazilian Israeli Confederation (CONIB) declared that the Lula government ” Abandoning the tradition of the search for balance and dialogue in Brazilian foreign policy “. The Israeli Federation of São Paulo Province also expressed regret at the President's speech.

Brazil has a history of neutrality between both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He was ” In 2010, it was the first country to recognize the Palestinian state “, was Lula was recalled to Addis Ababa.