Brazilian President Lula da Silva (left) and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (agencies)

Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz announced on Monday that Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will remain "persona non grata" in Israel until he retracts his statements in which he likened the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip to the genocide committed by the Nazis during World War II.

A statement issued by Katz's office said that the minister told the Brazilian ambassador, "We will not forget and we will not forgive. It is a dangerous anti-Semitic attack. Tell President Lula - in my name and in the name of the citizens of Israel - that he is persona non grata in Israel so that he will withdraw."

Yesterday, Katz 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)."

Israel accuses Lula of belittling the Holocaust and insulting the Jews, and Katz summoned the Brazilian ambassador to denounce his president's statements.

There is a difference between Brazilian President Da Silva, who made the greatest statements by a head of state in the world against the occupying entity and described the entity as a Nazi, and Netanyahu as Hitler.


And between Argentine President Javier Milley, who behaved in an extremely hypocritical manner towards the occupation and the criminal killers!


Record, history, and history records everything!… pic.twitter.com/Zxz6hnMDdI

- Omar Rahmon (@Rahmon83) February 18, 2024

Lula da Silva's statements

Yesterday, Sunday, Brazilian President Lula da Silva accused Israel of committing "genocide" in the Gaza Strip, likening what it was doing there to the "Holocaust" during World War II.

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."

🔴🔴#Video/Brazilian President De Silva struck the Zionists with hysterical madness today by issuing bold statements accusing the Zionists of committing a war of genocide in #Gaza against the Palestinians. There is no parallel to the genocide. Apple 🔴🔴What Hitler did against the Jews!!


Stinky Yahoo and his Trik gang made crazy statements against De Silva and accused him of... pic.twitter.com/oRnCrCGgLK

- Abdullah Al-Shayji Prof (@docshayji) February 18, 2024

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 Prime Minister 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 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 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 Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) attack on Israel last October 7 as a “terrorist” act, but since then he has strongly criticized the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip, which has continued for the 136th day, leaving tens of thousands of martyrs and wounded and massive destruction of residential buildings and facilities. Vitality.

Source: Al Jazeera + Reuters