Israeli diplomacy sees Brazil as an example to other countries for adopting, in the words of Chancellor Yair Lapid, a “policy of opposition to discrimination against Israel” in international forums. The incumbent is also the deputy prime minister of Israel and is expected to assume the post in August 2023.
Since Jair Bolsonaro assumed the presidency in 2019, Brazil has changed its diplomatic orientation and started to support Israel in the United Nations and in other multilateral forums.
Last year, the Brazilian government voted against a UN resolution that recognized international law in the occupied Palestinian territories, condemned violence and called for those responsible for crimes to be tried at the International Criminal Court in The Hague. In 2021, he abstained from a vote that proposed opening an international investigation against Israel over attacks in Gaza.
“Israel has a close and strategic partnership with Brazil, rooted in common interests and values, and we greatly appreciate the support we receive from Brazil in international institutions, including the United Nations,” Lapid told leaf, in an email interview.
Bolsonaro lost an important ally with the departure of former prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu, a right-wing populist, in June. In the coalition government he took over, which runs from the nationalist right to the ultra-left, right-wing Prime Minister Naftali Bennett will hand over the post to Lapid, in the center, in the middle of his term.
In an interview with The New York Times in 2019, the chancellor had preached Israel’s departure from ultra-right populist leaders such as Bolsonaro and Viktor Orbán, prime minister of Hungary, and greater alignment with central figures such as Emmanuel Macron, president of the France, and Mark Rutte, Prime Minister of the Netherlands.
AT leaf, did not criticize the Brazilian government, condemned the attempts to resuscitate the nuclear agreement with Iran and asked that the sanctions against the country not be lifted
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Negotiations to revive the nuclear agreement with Iran have resumed. Israel opposed the agreement signed in 2015 and supported the decision of Donald Trump, then US president, to abandon it. Iran is now demanding that all sanctions be lifted as a way to compensate for the unilateral break. Looking back, was it a mistake for the Americans to abandon the deal? I went against the deal, and I still think it wasn’t good. But at the time, I said that, before terminating it, it was important to take a few months to coordinate the withdrawal with the Europeans, and today we see that this was right. But the most important thing today is not to lift sanctions on Iran.
Do you see a way out to revive the nuclear deal? What would be the best way to deal with Iran’s nuclear capabilities? Iran represents a global threat. Everyone can and must act with determination to stop the advance of the Iranian nuclear program and its evil activities. A nuclear Iran will launch the entire Middle East into an arms race. A nuclear Iran will be an Iran emboldened and will urge its terrorist representatives to further expand their activities around the world.
Iran cannot buy time, profit billions from the removal of sanctions, deceive the world and secretly promote its nuclear program. That’s what they’ve done in the past and that’s what they’ll do this time too. The formula for avoiding a nuclear-capable Iran is clear: tougher sanctions, tighter supervision, and conducting any negotiations with Iran from a position of strength. There must be a credible military threat on the table. If the Iranians think the world doesn’t really want to stop them, they will run towards the bomb. We must make it clear that the world will not allow this to happen.
Jewish organizations in Brazil have denounced the country’s growing anti-Semitism and Bolsonaro’s role in encouraging radical views. There has been an increase in the number of Nazi groups and anti-Semitic content on the internet. Bolsonaro received lawmaker Beatrix von Storch, from the far-right German legend AfD, the granddaughter of a minister in the Nazi government, at the presidential palace. One of Bolsonaro’s ministers made a video emulating Joseph Goebbels. How do you see this scenery? We in Israel are concerned about the global trend of increasing anti-Semitic incidents. We are closely following the situation in Latin America and Brazil. The security of Jewish communities around the world, including in Latin America, is one of Israel’s top priorities.
That is why we are encouraged by Brazil’s recent decision to join the International Alliance for the Remembrance of the Holocaust. We also value initiatives to introduce a national Holocaust memorial day. Since taking over as foreign minister, I have made it clear that one of Israel’s top global priorities will be the fight against anti-Semitism and hatred in all its forms. I believe we are on common ground on this matter with Brazil.
The US has strongly opposed Israel’s plans for Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank, considering them detrimental to the prospects for peace between Israelis and Palestinians. What are the Israeli government’s plans to expand settlements in the region? Israel determines its policies according to its own interests and in a way that minimizes disagreements with our allies and partners around the world. That said, I have been consistent in saying that we need to focus now on measures to ensure peace in the future and also to improve the lives of Palestinians.
The Bolsonaro government has supported Israel at the UN, unlike previous administrations in Brazil, and has strengthened the bilateral relationship. He even promised to transfer the Brazilian embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, which has yet to materialize. Are you still waiting for this transfer? How do you see the relationship between the Bolsonaro government and Israel? Israel has a close and strategic partnership with Brazil, rooted in common interests and values, and we greatly appreciate the support we receive from Brazil in international institutions, including the United Nations. Brazil is setting an example for many other countries in its policy of opposing Israel’s continued discriminatory treatment in international fora.
We are also proud of our growing trade relations since the signing of the free trade agreement with Mercosur. Today, we live in an even better time in terms of the scope and breadth of our bilateral relationship. And I am committed to working to ensure that this positive trend continues, as is our new ambassador to Brasilia, Daniel Zohar-Zonshine.
In relation to Jerusalem, it is the eternal capital of the Jewish people. In every country in the world, embassies are located in the host country’s capital, and Israel should be no exception. Therefore, we urge all countries to join those who have already moved their embassies to Jerusalem.
The Israeli government has reduced from 102 to 37 its list of countries eligible to buy cybersurveillance technologies from Israeli company NSO, maker of Pegasus, after mounting criticism of foreign governments’ use of these tools to spy on human rights activists and journalists. Why is Israel’s Ministry of Defense re-evaluating the list for cyber defense exports and why is Brazil not included in the list? Israel has discussed this matter with the Brazilian government, and it is our understanding that they are satisfied with the conclusions reached.
Raio-x | Yair Lapid, 58
Journalist and TV presenter, he launched himself into Israeli politics in 2012, founding the centrist party Yesh Atid. He was finance minister under Binyamin Netanyahu in 2013 and, in three elections between 2019 and 2020, he joined, with his party, the center alliance led by Benny Gantz — which ended up defeated. As opposition leader, in 2021 he joined forces with current Prime Minister Naftali Bennett to form the coalition that ended the Netanyahu era. He is the current chancellor and, according to the agreement with Bennett, should take over as prime minister in 2023.
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