Israeli entities criticize Lula for withdrawing ambassador to Israel

Conib (Israeli Confederation of Brazil) and Fisesp (Israeli Federation of the State of São Paulo) regretted this Wednesday (May 29, 2024) the decision of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) to remove diplomat Frederico Meyer from position of Brazilian ambassador to Israel.

The PT member also determined that Meyer is the Brazilian representative at the UN Disarmament Conference (United Nations), in Geneva, Switzerland. The decree was published in DOU (Official Gazette of the Union) this Wednesday (May 29). Here is the full text (PDF – 73 kB).

According to Conib, the measure of the Brazilian president “it moves countries away from a Brazilian diplomatic tradition of balance and search for dialogue and prevents Brazil from exercising its desired role as mediator and protagonist in the Middle East”.

Em usethe entity further stated that Brazil and Israel have “a rich history of cooperation and affection, beginning since the approval of the partition of Palestine by the UN, in 1947, in a vote at the General Assembly of the organization led by the Brazilian Oswaldo Aranha”.

The president of Fisesp, Marcos Knobel, said that Brazil “misses the opportunity to act as an important peace mediator in the Middle East”as the measure took place less than a week after the confirmation of the death of Brazilian Michel Nisenbaum, murdered by Hamas on October 7th.

According to Knobel, the PT member’s decision, without indicating a name for the position, also shows a “lack of sensitivity regarding the delicate context experienced in the region”.

“Instead of opening up to dialogue and understanding, for example, the drama of the kidnapped hostages, victims of the most tragic torture that human beings can imagine, the president once again stretches the rope, further complicating diplomatic relations between the countries and ignoring the need for active and empathetic representation in Israel.”these.

Retrospect

In response to Lula’s speeches on February 18 relating Israel’s military movements to the Holocaust period, the Jewish country’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Israel Katz, called a meeting with the Brazilian ambassador at the Holocaust Museum.

Watch (2min43s):

According to the minister, the museum is the “a place that testifies more than anything else to what the Nazis and Hitler did to the Jews, including members of my family”. Furthermore, Katz declared that Lula is “persona non grata“ in Israel until he publicly apologized.

The meeting did not please Mauro Vieira, Brazilian Foreign Minister, who stated that the Israeli chancellor’s treatment of Ambassador Frederico Meyer was “irresponsible” e “humiliating”.

On February 19, Meyer was recalled to Brazil “for consultations”, which symbolized a distancing in the relationship between Brazil and Israel. Until then, the position was held by Fábio Moreira Farias, charge of affairs in Israel.

Read the full Conib statement below:

Read the full Fisesp note below:

“Fisesp criticizes Lula’s decision to withdraw ambassador to Israel: ‘Brazil misses the opportunity to act as an important peace mediator in the Middle East’

“This Wednesday (29/5), President Lula signaled the withdrawal of Frederico Meyer as Brazilian ambassador to Israel. In the published decree, the government did not indicate any replacement for the position, pointing to its extinction.

“For Marcos Knobel, president of the Israeli Federation of the State of São Paulo (Fisesp), President Lula’s decision, without indicating a name for the position, reveals a lack of sensitivity in relation to the delicate context experienced in the region. ‘Instead of opening up to dialogue and understanding, for example, the drama of the kidnapped hostages, victims of the most tragic torture that human beings can imagine, the president once again stretches the rope, further complicating diplomatic relations between the countries and ignoring the need for active and empathetic representation in Israel’.

“The president of Fisesp expresses regret at the signs of weakening of a long history of cooperation between the two countries, which began in 1947 with the approval of the partition of Palestine by the UN. ‘This decision published today comes less than a week after the confirmation of the death of Brazilian Michel Nisenbaum, murdered at the hands of Hamas on 7/10. With this new resolution, Brazil loses the opportunity to act as an important peace mediator in the Middle East, a role in which the country already has a consolidated tradition.’

“Fisesp continues to closely monitor the impacts of this decision.”