MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Brazil and Israel downgrade diplomatic ties

We cannot accept genocide, Amorim argued

Brazil and Israel have downgraded their diplomatic relations after a prolonged crisis.

Itamaraty did not respond to Israel's request to appoint Gali Dagan as its new ambassador. This lack of response is considered a refusal, leading Israel to withdraw the nomination and announce that relations will be conducted at a “lower diplomatic level.”

The diplomatic strain began in 2024 when Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva accused Israel of committing “genocide” against Palestinians in Gaza and compared its actions to the Holocaust. In response, Israel declared Lula “persona non grata” and publicly reprimanded Brazil's then-ambassador, Frederico Meyer.

Brazil subsequently recalled its ambassador and has not appointed a replacement. Brazil's special advisor on foreign affairs, Celso Amorim, stated that Brazil's decision was a direct response to the “public humiliation” of its ambassador.

“There was no veto of the ambassador. They asked for an agreement, and we did not give it to them. They humiliated our ambassador there, a public humiliation. After that, what did they want?” Amorim explained.

“We want to have a good relationship with Israel. But we cannot accept genocide, which is what is happening. What is happening there is absurd,” he added.

“After Brazil refused to accept Dagan's credentials and the agreement for his appointment, Israel has withdrawn the proposal and relations have been downgraded,” Tel Aviv's Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Dagan left his post as ambassador to Colombia in 2024 due to friction with President Gustavo Petro, a critic of Israel's actions in the Gaza Strip.

The Government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has also criticized Brazil's “hostile and critical stance toward Israel since the Hamas massacre on October 7, 2023,” which has been accentuated under Lula, who has been declared “persona non grata” for likening Netanyahu to “Adolf Hitler, who decided to kill Jews.”

The last clash between the two sides dates back to 2015, when Brasilia also refused to accept Dani Dayan's credentials as the new ambassador.