The diplomatic crisis between Israel and Brazil could extend to South America. On Tuesday February 20, the Colombian President, Gustavo Petro, gave his support to his Brazilian counterpart, Lula, declared “persona non grata” by Israel after its statements comparing the war in Gaza to the Holocaust.
“I express my full solidarity with the President of Brazil”, declared, on the X platform, Mr. Petro, whose country shares a border with Brasilia. “In Gaza, there is a genocide. Thousands of children, women and elderly people are cowardly murdered. Lula only told the truth. Either the truth is defended, or barbarism will destroy us”adds the Colombian leader who asks “the whole region” to unite “to immediately end the violence in Palestine”.
This support comes as relations between Brazil and Israel continue to deteriorate daily, after President Lula accused the Jewish state on Sunday of committing a “genocide” Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, drawing a comparison between the Israeli offensive and the extermination of the Jews by the Nazis.
Brazilian foreign minister denounces Israeli “lies”
On Monday, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz denounced “a serious anti-Semitic attack against the Jewish people and the State of Israel.” On Tuesday, Mr. Katz posted, on the X platforma new message to Lula: “Millions of Jews around the world are waiting for you to ask for forgiveness. How dare you compare Israel to Hitler? ” ” What a shame. Your comparison is immoral, delusional. A shame for Brazil and a spit in the face of Brazilian Jews”he added. “It’s not too late to learn the story and apologize.” In the meantime, you will remain persona non grata in Israel! »concludes the message.
The head of Brazilian diplomacy, Mauro Vieira, reacted to these comments. Statements by the Israeli minister ” yesterday [lundi] and today [mardi] are unacceptable in form, and misleading in substance,” the Brazilian foreign minister told the press in Rio de Janeiro, where the meeting of G20 heads of diplomacy opens on Wednesday. “For a chancellery to address the head of state of a friendly country, President Lula, in this way is unusual and revolting. That a chancellery systematically resorts to distortion of declarations and lies is shocking and serious”he insisted.
On Monday, Israel Katz summoned Brazil’s ambassador to Israel, Frederico Meyer, to the Israeli National Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem to reprimand him. In response, the Israeli ambassador was summoned by the government in Brasilia, and Brazil eventually recalled its ambassador to the country for consultations. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared on Sunday that Lula’s remarks “trivialized the Holocaust” And “crossed a red line”.
In this tense climate, the head of American diplomacy, Antony Blinken, is due to meet Lula on Wednesday in Brasilia. As the US secretary of state was en route to Brazil, where he arrived Tuesday evening, his spokesman, Matthew Miller, said the United States, Israel’s ally, was “obviously disagree” with the words of Lula, adding that “We don’t think there [ait] a genocide in Gaza ».