Brazilian President Lula da Silva (Getty)
Brazilian President Lula da Silva on Sunday accused Israel of committing "genocide" in the Gaza Strip, likening what it was doing there to the "Holocaust" during World War II, while Israel described those statements as shameful and summoned its Brazilian ambassador.
The Brazilian president told reporters in Addis Ababa, where he attended an African Union summit, that “what is happening in the Gaza Strip is not a war, it is genocide,” adding, “It is not a war of soldiers against soldiers, it is a war between a highly prepared army and women and children.”
The Brazilian president added that this "did not happen at any other stage in history," before adding, "In fact, it had already happened when Hitler decided to kill the Jews."
"Red line"
Angry Israeli reactions quickly followed, denouncing the Brazilian President's statements. The Israeli Prime Minister described the Brazilian President's statements as "shameful and dangerous."
Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu said, “Comparing Israel to the Holocaust and Hitler is crossing a red line,” and that “Israel is fighting to defend itself and secure its future, respecting international law until complete victory is achieved.”
Netanyahu: The statements of the President of Brazil belittle the Holocaust and attempt to harm the Jewish people (Reuters)
Netanyahu considered these statements an attempt to downplay the Holocaust and to undermine the Jewish people and Israel's right to defend itself, he said.
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz also said in a blog post on his account on the X platform, “The words of the President of Brazil are shameful and dangerous, and no one will harm Israel’s right to defend itself.”
Katz added, "I directed my office staff to summon the Brazilian ambassador (Federico Mayer) to reprimand him tomorrow (Monday)."
Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid also considered the Brazilian president's statements "disgraceful, anti-Semitic, and indicative of ignorance."
This is one of the harshest statements made by the Brazilian President regarding the Israeli war on Gaza and the occupation’s confrontations in the Gaza Strip with the Palestinian resistance factions since its outbreak on October 7 last year.
Da Silva described the attack on Israel last October 7 by the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) as a “terrorist” act, but since then he has strongly criticized the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip, which continues for the 135th day, leaving tens of thousands of martyrs and wounded and massive destruction of residential buildings and facilities. Vitality.
Source: Al Jazeera + agencies