“There is a genocide in Gaza (…) Lula only told the truth. “Either the truth will be defended, or barbarism will destroy us,” said Colombian President Gustavo Petro, repeating the Brazilian president’s accusations against Israel.
Published on February 21, 2024 07:32
Reading time: 1 min
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in Ethiopia, February 18, 2024. (RICARDO STUCKERT / BRAZILIAN PRESIDENTIALITY / AFP)
The head of Brazilian diplomacy, Mauro Vieira, accused on Tuesday, February 20, his Israeli counterpart of “lies”, a new episode in the diplomatic crisis between the two countries that stems from the statements of Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to compare the war in Gaza and the Gaza Strip the Shoah emerged.
Since then, the two countries have been in a stalemate. Israel recalled the Brazilian ambassador, and Brazil took the same action regarding the Israeli ambassador, but recalled its own representative for consultations. On Tuesday, the presidents of Colombia and Bolivia, two of Brazil's neighbors, expressed support for Lula and in turn accused Israel of “genocide.”
“There is a genocide in Gaza (…) Lula only told the truth. “Either the truth will be defended, or barbarism will destroy us,” said Colombian President Gustavo Petro on has”.
“A shameful page in the history of Israeli diplomacy”
Lula was declared “persona non grata” on Monday by Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz, who viewed Lula's comments as a “serious anti-Semitic attack against the Jewish people and the State of Israel.”
The Israeli minister’s statements “yesterday [lundi] and today [mardi]are formally unacceptable and incorrect in content,” said Mauro Vieira in front of journalists.
“It is unusual and outrageous that a chancellery would address the head of state of a friendly country, President Lula, in this way. The fact that a chancellery systematically resorts to falsifying statements and lies is shocking and serious,” said the Brazilian minister in Rio de Janeiro Janeiro, where the meeting of the G20 diplomatic chiefs begins on Wednesday. He also spoke of “a shameful page in the history of Israeli diplomacy.”