Vieira expresses Brazil’s discomfort in meeting with Israeli ambassador, says newspaper
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The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mauro Vieira, met this Monday (19) with the Israeli ambassador to Brazil, Daniel Zonshine, in Rio de Janeiro. Vieira expressed discomfort at Brazil’s surprise with the stance of Israeli Foreign Minister, Israel Katz, in relation to Brazil’s ambassador to Israel, Frederico Meyer.
The crisis was triggered by a statement by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT), who equated the Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip with the Holocaust. “What is happening in the Gaza Strip does not exist at any other historical moment, in fact, it existed when Hitler decided to kill the Jews,” stated Lula.
The meeting was held behind closed doors and directly, according to the newspaper. Folha de S. Paulo. Earlier, Katz took Meyer to the Jerusalem Holocaust Memorial and said Lula would be classified as a “persona non grata” in Israel until he formally recanted. The decision was relayed in Hebrew, a language Mayer does not speak. The gesture was considered a public reprimand by members of the Foreign Ministry. Lula recalled the ambassador to Brazil after the episode.
“Brazilian President Lula’s comparison between Israel’s just war against Hamas and the actions of Hitler and the Nazis, who exterminated 6 million Jews, is a serious anti-Semitic attack that profanes the memory of those who died in the Holocaust. We will not forgive and we will not forget,” Katz said. Vieira and Zonshine did not speak after the meeting in Rio.
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