Brazil’s socialist government announced on Monday that it had put into effect a free trade agreement with the Palestinian Authority, which administers the West Bank, in a show of solidarity with the anti-Israel movement.
Brazil, which officially recognizes “Palestine” as a state and withdrew its ambassador to Israel following Israel’s brutal Oct. 7 siege by the Islamic terrorist group Hamas, has put into effect a long-delayed proposed free trade agreement between the “State of Palestine” and Mercosur, a regional trading bloc of Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay. The pact has not been recognized by Mercosur’s other member states.
Brasilia described the agreement as a free trade agreement with “Palestine,” but it appears to apply only to the Palestinian Authority and not to Hamas, which rules Gaza.
The agreement comes after a month of hostile rhetoric against Israel from far-left President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who declared that Israel would attack the country. Undesirable Person Israel demanded an apology after Lula in February likened Israel’s self-defense efforts against Hamas to those of Nazi Germany. Lula has yet to apologize, instead repeatedly denouncing Israel’s war with Hamas as “genocide.”
Lula Himself Announced The agreement is due to be ratified at the ongoing Mercosur summit on Monday.
“We are proud to be the first EU member state to ratify a free trade agreement with Palestine,” Lula said, “but it is regrettable that this happens at a time when the Palestinian people are suffering as a result of a totally unjustified war.”
Brazil’s foreign ministry said on Monday that the free trade agreement will come into force and will help support the “Palestinian” cause against Israel and possibly help build deeper ties with the rest of the Middle East, excluding Israel.
Prior to the entry into force of the agreement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued Brazil said in a statement on Friday that the free trade agreement is a document prepared by Mercosur and submitted to the union by Paraguay, which accepted Brazil’s ratification last week. The statement noted that “State of Palestine,” presumably meaning the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, ratified the free trade agreement in April.
Now that both the Palestinian Authority and Brazil have signed the agreement, “the agreement will come into force for Brazil and the State of Palestine after 30 days.” Brazil’s foreign ministry clarified that other Mercosur countries will not be bound by the agreement until they ratify the free trade agreement separately. The other three South American countries are all governed by right-wing presidents, and it is unclear at this time whether any of them will ratify it. Argentina in particular is widely expected not to put such an agreement into force under current liberal President Javier Milley, a staunch supporter of Israel who has made it a priority to visit the country after October 7th.
Millay chose not to attend the Mercosur summit, instead traveling to Brazil while Lula was away. She used the opportunity to speak at the Brazilian equivalent of the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) and meet with Lula’s predecessor, former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who had once promised to open a Brazilian embassy in Jerusalem. We’re screwed To fulfill that promise.
The Palestinian Authority reportedly signed the free trade agreement in April, but the Brazilian government noted that the document had been floating around Mercosur bureaucracy since 2011.
“The agreement is a concrete contribution towards the realization of an economically sustainable Palestinian state capable of living side by side in peace and harmony with its neighbors,” Brazil’s foreign ministry said on Friday.
Brazil said the agreement covers “trade in goods, rules of origin, bilateral safeguards, technical regulations, evaluation and compliance standards and procedures, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, technical and technological cooperation, institutional arrangements and dispute settlement.”
Lula’s approach to the Palestinian Authority is likely to further worsen relations with Israel. Brazil has traditionally maintained a friendly stance toward Israel, but since October 7, Lula’s public support for the Hamas cause has infuriated the Israeli government. Less than a month after the October 7 attacks, Lula has repeatedly accused Israel of committing “genocide” by pursuing Hamas terrorists. However, relations have deteriorated significantly since February, when Lula likened Israel’s actions in self-defense to the Holocaust.
“What is happening to the Palestinian people in Gaza is unlike any other moment in history. In fact, the same thing was happening when Hitler decided to kill the Jews,” Lula said in a speech at the African Union summit in Ethiopia that month.
The Israeli government responded by banning President Lula from entering Israel until he apologizes for his remarks (he has not apologized at the time of writing) and summoned the Brazilian ambassador.
“What a disgrace! Your comparison is immoral and delusional. An embarrassment for Brazil and an insult to Brazilian Jews,” Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said in a social media message at the time. “It is not too late to learn your history and apologize. Until then, you will remain unwelcome in Israel!”
Rather than apologise, Lula claimed Israel lied about his comments and tried to argue that his statement “when Hitler decided to kill the Jews” was not intended to evoke the Holocaust.
“I never said the word ‘Holocaust’. ‘Holocaust’ is the Israeli prime minister’s interpretation, not mine,” Lula said.
Bilateral relations have deteriorated since President Lula recalled his ambassador to Tel Aviv in May and has yet to appoint a replacement.
