Following the repercussion of the Brazilian president’s speech on the war between Israel and Hamas, this Monday, the 19th, Lula da Silva recalled the Brazilian ambassador in Tel Aviv, Frederico Meyer.
This morning, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz announced that President Lula is now considered “persona non grata” and will not be welcome in Israel until he retracts his recent statements about the war in Gaza.
“We will not forget and we will not forgive. It is a serious anti-Semitic attack. On my behalf and on behalf of the citizens of Israel – inform President Lula that he is persona non grata in Israel until he recants”, said Israel Katz during a meeting in Jerusalem, in which he reprimanded the Brazilian ambassador in Tel Aviv, Frederico Meyer.
During the press conference he held after the African Union summit in Ethiopia, Lula said that the Israeli Army commits genocide against the Palestinians and alluded to the killing of Jews in Adolf Hitler’s Nazi Germany – a statement that was repudiated by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu , who said that Lula “crossed a red line”.
However, the special advisor for international affairs to the Brazilian Presidency, Celso Amorim, said that Lula will not apologize for his statement.
“We have always treated them very respectfully and defended the two-state solution, but there is nothing to apologize for. It is Israel that is placed in a condition of increasing isolation”, said Amorim, highlighting that “Lula made it clear that he wants to maintain his position against the actions of the Israeli government, but wants to reinforce that the criticism does not extend to the Jewish people”.
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