In response to Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, which hours earlier declared Brazilian President Lula da Silva “persona non grata,” Brazil recalled its ambassador to Israel, Frederico Meier, on Monday afternoon. In the world of diplomacy, calling the ambassador of another country for consultations is a step that precedes the severance of relations between two countries.
In addition to recalling its ambassador to Israel in Brasilia, the Brazilian government also summoned Israel’s ambassador to Brazil, Daniel Zonschein, to give an explanation. Zonshin, who was in Brasilia, was ordered this Monday to introduce himself to Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira, who is in Rio de Janeiro preparing for Wednesday’s meeting of chancellors of the G20 countries, the bloc of countries over which Brazil currently presides.
The Brazilian government was furious that the Netanyahu government, while summoning the Brazilian ambassador in Tel Aviv to protest Lula’s statements in Ethiopia, took the Brazilian diplomat not to the headquarters of Israeli diplomacy, but to the Holocaust Museum. Brasília saw this unusual change as a way to humiliate the diplomat and Brazil, especially since Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz recorded the meeting using micro-equipment hidden in the lapel of his coat.
A serious crisis between Brazil and Israel, whose relations deteriorated after the defeat of Jair Bolsonaro, an ally of Benjamin Netanyahu, by Lula in 2022, erupted this Sunday after Lula da Silva’s statements following the African Union summit. in Addis Adeb, the capital of Ethiopia. Commenting on the Israeli military’s war in the Gaza Strip, where 60% of the nearly 30,000 dead are women and children, Lula said Israel was committing a Hitler-like genocide against the Jewish people in that region of Palestine.
The phrase, considered catastrophic even in Brazil, angered Israel and Jewish organizations around the world. This Monday morning, in addition to displaying Brazil’s ambassador at the Holocaust Museum, the Israeli government declared Lula da Silva “persona non grata” and the Brazilian government responded by recalling its ambassador amid requests from allies to sever ties with Israel, which failed to do so. still happened.