Lula withdrew head of the post in Tel Aviv in May 2024 and followed with criticism of the Israeli government for acting in the war against Hamas
Brazil will complete on Wednesday (28.MAI.2025) the 1 year mark without ambassador in Israel. It is a sign of the weakening of bilateral relations between countries, fueled by the president’s constant criticism of Israeli acting in the war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip (Palestine).
Lula The then ambassador of Brazil in Israel Frederico Meyer in February 2024 after Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz, now Minister of Defense, e. Lula removed Meyer from the post on May 28, 2024.
The embarrassment was after Lula for the Nazi Germany in World War II. “What is happening in the Gaza Strip with the Palestinian people there is no other historical moment. In fact, it existed when Hitler decided to kill the Jews.”declared the petista on February 18, 2024 in Ethiopia.
Katz, then Israel’s chancellor, said Lula’s speech was a “Serious anti -Semitic attack” and that the Brazilian president has become a “persona non grata” in the Jewish country. Then the minister took the Brazilian ambassador to the Holocaust Museum and showed Meyer a document with the name of his grandparents, victims of the Nazi regime.
Katz’s attitude was malviewed by Planalto and Itamaraty. The next day, Lula called Ambassador Frederico Meyer back to Brazil for consultations.
A year after the episode, the scenario is not favorable to a rapprochement. The head of the Brazilian executive maintains criticism of Israel’s tactic in Palestine. And the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is not expected to indicate a new ambassador to Tel Aviv. Currently, the post is headed by business manager Fábio Moreira Farias, number 2 of the mission.
The opposite way is also obstructed. Israel has ambassador in Brazil, but Daniel Zonshine will leave office in July. The government of the country has defined a successor and awaits the approval (Consent of the government for a particular foreign diplomat to be appointed) from Itamaraty. Despite the delay in the Brazilian response, Israel’s embassy says it still intends to keep an ambassador in Brasilia.
Approvals
Lula’s Senate for the embassies of Germany, Saudi Arabia, Austria, Iran and Russia. These names now await the Plateau appointment decree. Of these, only Vienna and Tehran are without ambassador. Berlin, Riyadh and Moscow are in the process of exchanging the head of post.
Outside this picture, there is the Brazilian Embassy in Cambodia. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced the opening of an embassy in Southeast Asia in February 2024 and Lula sent the name of the Ambassador designated on April 24 this year. Awaits vote on the Senate CRE.
