The Israeli government has declared Brazil’s far-left president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. persona non grata Lula made the remarks on Monday in response to comments that compared Israel’s self-defense operations against Hamas to the Holocaust.
The designation under international law is prohibit Lula entered Israel.
Lula, who has been on an official tour of Africa since last week, repeatedly criticized Israel during visits to Egypt and Ethiopia. He specifically criticized Israel for trying to protect it from Hamas, the jihadist terrorist organization responsible for the Oct. 7 attack on Israeli civilians that killed an estimated 1,200 people.
Speaking at a press conference after attending the 37th African Union Summit in Addis Ababa, Lula compared Israel’s actions to those of Nazi Germany and Adolf Hitler.
On February 19, 2024, Brazilian Ambassador to Israel Frederico Mayer (center) visits the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial Museum in Jerusalem after being summoned by Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz (left). President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in the presence of reporters. The country’s foreign minister said he would not be welcome in Israel until he apologized for comparing the ongoing war with Hamas to the Holocaust. (Ahmad Gharabri/AFP via Getty)
“What is happening with the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip is unparalleled at any other historical moment. In fact, it existed when Hitler decided to kill the Jews,” Lula said. Said.
Brazilian President’s Accusation Immediately condemnation Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Lula’s comments “crossed a line that should not be crossed.” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Lula’s comments amounted to “a trivialization of the Holocaust and an attempt to undermine the right of Jews and Israel to self-defense.”
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz announced on Monday that his government had summoned the Brazilian ambassador to Israel to Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial for a “protest call,” and Lula was declared a disgrace and made statements. He added that he will be banned from entering Israel until he rescinds the restrictions.
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और देखें @LulaOficial 6 stars, 10 stars, 1 0 stars, 10 stars, 10 stars, 10 stars, 10 stars… pic.twitter.com/QErDw4tElb
— Israel Katz (@Israel_katz) February 19, 2024
“Comparing Brazil’s President Lula to Israel’s just war against Hamas and the actions of Hitler and the Nazis, who murdered 6 million Jews, is an extreme violation of the memory of those who died in the Holocaust,” Katz said. “This is a serious anti-Semitic attack.”
“We will never forgive and we will never forget – in my name and in the name of the Israeli people – I urge President Lula that he is not welcome in Israel until he formally apologizes and retracts his comments. I have been notified,” he added.
Israeli government spokesman Eilon Levy addressed Lula’s persona non grata designation at a Monday morning briefing, saying Israel’s ban on a head of state is perhaps unprecedented.
“There is nothing more shameful than desecrating the memory of six million murdered Jews,” Levy told reporters. The living family members were incinerated and reduced to human ashes on October 7th. ”
“We will not tolerate any world leader who seeks to give Hamas political or legal cover,” he concluded. Holocaust. “
Ahead of Sunday’s remarks that led to the travel ban from Israel, Lula accused In a speech to the Arab League, Israel accused Israel of killing “women and children” and called on the United Nations to recognize “Palestine” as a state, with East Jerusalem as its capital.
“Brazil’s position is clear: there will be no peace until there is a Palestinian state within mutually agreed upon and internationally recognized borders, including the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and East Jerusalem as its capital,” Lula said. he told the Arab League.
Lula reiterated his accusations at a press conference following a meeting with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, calling Israel’s response to Hamas’s October 7 terrorist attack “disproportionate and indiscriminate.” declared that there was.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva listens next to Arab League President Ahmed Aboul Gheit during an Arab League meeting to discuss the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza in Cairo, February 15, 2024. (left). (AFP via Getty Images)
“Under the pretext of defeating Hamas, they are killing women and children. This is something I have never seen in any war that I know of,” Lula said.
Lula is scheduled to return to Brazil from an African trip on Monday. The Brazilian government has not officially commented on the matter at the time of this article.
Brazil’s president is not the only far-left head of state in the region to liken Israel to Nazi Germany after the October 7 attacks. Last year, Colombian President Gustavo Petro claimed In a series of wild and unhinged social media posts made in the days after October 7, he claimed that Israel was trying to turn Gaza into Auschwitz.
Petro’s outburst prompted Israel to suspend security exports to Colombia. Colombia is a country that historically maintained friendly relations with Israel before Petro took office.petro answered He threatened to sever ties with Israel and told him not to “insult the president.”
Christian K. Caruso is a Venezuelan writer who chronicles life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter here.
