Brazil’s President Lula da Silva has recalled his country’s Ambassador Federico Mayer from Israel following a reprimand delivered earlier in the day on Monday by Foreign Minister Israel Katz over da Silva’s antisemitic remarks on Sunday accusing Israel of committing genocide in Gaza.
Brazil’s President Declared ‘Persona Non Grata’ in Israel
Katz declared da Silva “persona non grata” in Israel until he apologizes and retracts his remarks.
Katz chose to deliver the reprimand in Jerusalem at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial Center to underscore his point that da Silva had crossed the line by trying to compare Israeli military operations in Gaza to the genocide of six million Jews by the Nazis during World War II.
Immediately following the meeting, da Silva ordered the ambassador to return to Brazil.
At the same time, Israel’s Ambassador to Brazil, Daniel Zohar-Zonstein, was summoned to a reprimand meeting with the Brazil’s Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira.
Brazil’s president is deeply supportive of the Palestinian Authority “cause.”
