Israel has denounced Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva as an anti-Semite and declared him persona non grata after he compared Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza to the Holocaust.
The Israeli Foreign Minister of affairs, via his verified X formerly twitter handle, said he summoned the Brazilian ambassador to Israel to Yad Vashem, the Holocaust memorial museum in Jerusalem, on Monday.
“This morning, I summoned the Brazilian ambassador to Israel to Yad Vashem, the place that demonstrates more than any other what the Nazis and Hitler did to the Jews, including members of my own family,” he wrote.
“The comparison by the president of Brazil, @Lula Oficial, 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 were killed in the Holocaust.”
“We will not forgive, nor will we forget – on behalf of myself and the citizens of Israel, I have declared to President Lula that he is persona non grata in Israel until he apologizes and reconsiders his words.”
Lula, who returned to power last year after being released from prison on corruption charges, has been a vocal critic of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, which began on October 7 in response to a surprise attack by Hamas that killed at least 1,200 people and seized 253 hostages.
Lula had accused Israel of genocide and endorsed South Africa’s case of genocide brought against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) last year.
On Sunday, he told reporters in Ethiopia that Israel’s actions in Gaza were akin to the Nazi persecution of the Jews.