Radical leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva formally withdrew Brazil’s ambassador to Israel, Frederico Meyer, on Wednesday, marking a new chapter in already tense relations between the two countries.
Lula has several statement Following Hamas’ unprecedented terrorist attack on October 7 and Israel’s launch of a self-defense operation against jihadist terrorists, condemnations have been levelled at Israel over the past eight months, accusing it and its government of committing “genocide” through the operation.
One such comment, issued Speaking on the sidelines of the African Union summit in Addis Ababa in February, President Lula compared Israel’s self-defense efforts to those of Nazi Germany and Adolf Hitler during the Holocaust.
“What is happening to the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip is unlike any other moment in history. In fact, the same thing happened when Hitler decided to kill the Jews,” Lula said at the time.
Lula’s statement praise Israel under attack from Hamas declare he Undesirable PersonThe Brazilian president will be banned from visiting Israel until he formally apologizes and retracts his comments, said Celsol Amorim, a foreign policy adviser to Lula. Claimed President Lula has refused to offer any apology, insisting that Israel “should apologize before humanity.”
President Lula responded to the ban by recalling former ambassador Meyer. On Wednesday, Lula officially Deleted The Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs relieved Meyer from his post at the Brazilian Embassy in Tel Aviv and appointed him as Brazil’s special envoy to the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva, Switzerland. Meyer has been in Brazil since February and reportedly returned to Tel Aviv last week to prepare for his transfer to Geneva.
A Brazilian foreign ministry source told AFP that the Brazilian government will not immediately appoint a new ambassador to Israel and that as a result the Brazilian embassy in Tel Aviv will be headed by diplomat Fabio Moreira Farias, chargé d’affaires. Unless a new ambassador is appointed, the level of diplomatic ties between the two countries will effectively be reduced.
Brazilian sources claim that Meyer was “humiliated” after being summoned by the Israeli government to a meeting at the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem in February, shortly after President Lula made anti-Semitic remarks. The sources say Meyer was “publicly reprimanded” in Hebrew without an interpreter, which led to his permanent recall.
Radio France International (RFI) report Israel reportedly summoned Charge d’Affaires Farias to a meeting in the capital, Jerusalem, on Thursday morning to explain the situation. Israeli officials reportedly said they had no plans to make any official statement or release on the matter.
A source at the Israeli Foreign Ministry told RFI that Brazilian diplomats had sought clarification about their government’s decision.
“The Chargé d’Affaires submitted a diplomatic document stating that the ambassador had been assigned to a new post in Switzerland, meaning that he had not actually been recalled. [to Brazil]”But he was transferred,” the source said.
RFI reported that, citing information provided by an anonymous Brazilian Foreign Ministry source, President Lula’s decision not to appoint a new ambassador to Israel does not mean he intends to sever ties with Israel, as other left-wing governments in the region, such as Colombia and Bolivia, have done.
Christian K. Caruso is a Venezuelan author documenting life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter. here.
