Brazil President ‘persona non grata’ in Israel after ‘Hitler’ remark on Gaza war

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s recent comparison of Israel’s military actions in Gaza to the Holocaust has ignited a diplomatic standoff between Brazil and Israel, escalating tensions and prompting swift reactions from both sides.

The controversy unfolded on Sunday when President Lula, speaking to reporters at the African Union summit in Ethiopia, remarked that the ongoing conflict in the Gaza Strip was not merely a war but a genocide, drawing parallels to the atrocities committed by Hitler against the Jewish people during the Holocaust.

Here’s all you need to know about brewing controversy:

Lula said that “what is happening in the Gaza Strip and to the Palestinian people hasn’t been seen in any other moment in history. Actually, it did when Hitler decided to kill the Jews.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that Lula’s comments “trivialized the Holocaust” and “crossed a red line.”

Israeli foreign minister Israel Katz declared that Brazil’s President would not be welcomed in Israel until he apologises for comparing Israel’s actions in Gaza to the Holocaust, labelling it as a severe antisemitic attack.

Katz said Lula is “persona non grata in the state of Israel so long as he doesn’t retract his remarks and apologize.”

Katz summoned Brazil’s ambassador to Israel for a reprimand at the National Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem in response to President Lula’s comments. “The things that Lula said when he compared the righteous war of the State of Israel against Hamas, which murdered and massacred the Jews, and Hitler and the Nazis is shameful and unacceptable,” Katz said.

Brazil retaliated by recalling its ambassador to Israel, Frederico Meyer, for consultations and summoning the Israeli ambassador to Brazil to address the seriousness of Israel’s reaction to Lula’s statements.

Brazil’s foreign affairs minister Mauro Vieira also summoned the Israeli ambassador Daniel Zonshine “in light of the seriousness of this morning’s statements by the Israeli government,” according to a statement from his ministry.

Israel has been insisting that its war in Gaza, launched in response to a deadly Hamas attack on October 7, is defensive.

Hamas militants stormed into southern Israel and killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took around 250 hostages. Militants still hold around 130 hostages, a fourth of them believed to be dead.

The retaliatory strikes by Israel have killed at least 29,092 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to the Health Ministry in Hamas-ruled Gaza. Around 80% of Gaza’s population have been driven from their homes, and a quarter face starvation.

While Lula had condemned the Hamas attack as a “terrorist” act, he has since grown vocally critical of Israel’s response.