Israel says Brazil's president is not welcome in the country after he compared Israel's war in Gaza to the Holocaust.
Brazil recalls its ambassador to Israel and Israel faces a diplomatic rift in the country after Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva compared Israel's military operation in Gaza to the Holocaust. He said he was not welcomed.
“What is happening among the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip has never happened at any moment in history. In fact, it happened, when Hitler decided to kill the Jews,” Lula said. he said on Sunday.
During World War II, the Nazis systematically murdered 6 million Jews.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called Lula's comments “shameful and serious.”
On Monday, Israeli Foreign Minister Yisrael Katz announced that Lula would not be welcome in the Middle Eastern country until he retracted his comments.
“We will not forget or forgive. This was a serious anti-Semitic attack.” According to a statement from Mr. Katz's office, Mr. Katz addressed the Brazilian ambassador, in my name and in the name of the Israeli people. He said he wants President Lula to tell him that he is persona non grata in Israel until he takes back Israel.
In response, Brazil's Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that it would summon Israel's ambassador to Brazil, Daniel Zonschein, for talks in Rio de Janeiro.
“he [Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira] The Brazilian ambassador in Tel Aviv, Frederico Mayer, was also recalled for consultations. He is scheduled to leave for Brazil tomorrow,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs added on Monday.
Meanwhile, Lula, 78, also faced backlash at home over comments he made Sunday at a press conference on the sidelines of the African Union summit in Addis Ababa.
The Brazil-Israel Institute called his comments “vulgar” and warned they risked “inciting anti-Semitism”.
Lula condemned the October 7 Hamas-led attack on southern Israel as an act of “terrorism” on the day of the attack, and has since become a vocal critic of Israel's retaliatory military operations in Gaza.