Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz blasted Brazilian President Lula as an “antisemite and Hamas supporter” after Brazil rejected Israel’s new ambassador and quit the global antisemitism watchdog IHRA.
Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz issued a blistering response Tuesday after Brazil deepened its diplomatic rift with Jerusalem by refusing to accredit Israel’s new ambassador and withdrawing from the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA).
In a fiery post on X, Katz recalled his earlier tenure as Foreign Minister, when he declared Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva persona non grata following Lula’s remarks comparing Israel’s Gaza campaign to the Holocaust.
“When Lula disrespected the memory of the Holocaust during my tenure as Minister of Foreign Affairs, I declared him persona non grata in Israel until he apologized,” Katz wrote. “Now he has revealed his true face as a declared antisemite and supporter of Hamas by withdrawing Brazil from IHRA — placing his country alongside regimes like Iran, which openly denies the Holocaust and threatens to destroy the State of Israel.”
Katz emphasized Israel’s ability to withstand hostility, declaring:
“As Israel’s Minister of Defense, I affirm: we will know how to defend ourselves against the axis of evil of radical Islamism, even without the help of Lula and his allies.”
He concluded with a message to Brazil’s citizens:
“Shame on the wonderful Brazilian people and the many friends of Israel in Brazil that this is their president. Better days will still come for the relationship between our countries.”
The remarks mark yet another escalation in the rapidly deteriorating relationship between Israel and Brazil, once close allies under former President Jair Bolsonaro. Under Lula, however, relations have reached a historic low, driven by his repeated accusations of “genocide” against Israel and his sharp pivot toward pro-Palestinian positions.
