[1/6]Brazil’s Justice Minister Flavio Dino attends the Ameripol Constitutional Treaty ceremony in Brasilia, Brazil, November 9, 2023. Portal/Adriano Machado acquires license rights
RIO DE JANEIRO, Nov 9 (Portal) – An unusual statement by Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency that it helped thwart a Hezbollah attack in Brazil is the latest incident to put a strain on relations between Israel and Latin America’s largest country of the Gaza war.
On Wednesday, Brazil arrested two people on terrorism charges as part of an operation to dismantle a suspected Hezbollah cell that was planning attacks on Brazilian soil. Later that day, Mossad publicly thanked Brazilian police and said that Hezbollah continued to attack Israeli, Jewish and Western targets “against the backdrop of the war in Gaza.”
The Mossad’s comments angered Brazilian Justice Minister Flavio Dino, who sharply rebuked Israel on Thursday, saying on social media that “Brazil is a sovereign country” and “does not give foreign orders for force near the Brazilian Federal Police.”
Dino did not specifically dispute any details in the Israeli statement, but seemed rather annoyed by its timing, tone and the connection it made to the current war in Gaza.
“We value appropriate international cooperation, but we oppose any foreign agency that wants to direct Brazilian police departments or use our investigations for propaganda or their political interests,” he wrote, adding that Brazil’s investigations “have nothing to do with international cooperation.” would have conflicts.”
A Brazilian federal police source said Dino was upset because the Mossad statement made it appear as if Brazil was taking orders from Israel and gave the impression that it was taking sides in the war.
A spokesman for the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office, which oversees the Mossad, had no immediate comment.
Dino’s comments reflect Brazilian officials’ growing concern over Israel’s behavior following the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks and subsequent bombing of Gaza.
Two weeks after the conflict began, about 30 Brazilians are still stuck in Gaza and Brazil is increasingly angry with Israel over its slow release, two sources said. Brazil’s Foreign Ministry told Israel this week that diplomatic relations would become untenable if any harm came to the captured Brazilians, the sources said.
Brazilian diplomats told Portal they could not understand why Israel was slow to move forward with his release, as President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has balanced criticism of the Hamas attacks with calls for a ceasefire. Latin American countries such as Bolivia, Colombia and Chile have taken a much tougher line toward Israel, cutting ties or recalling their ambassadors.
Lula’s team was also upset when Israel’s ambassador to Brazil, Daniel Zonshine, took photos next to former President Jair Bolsonaro and other far-right politicians during a visit to Brazil’s Congress on Wednesday ahead of a private meeting.
Bolsonaro, a Lula foe and staunch Israel supporter, has held no public office, has been declared politically unelectable until 2030 and is the subject of several criminal investigations, including an investigation into whether he tried to stage a coup after he died last year had lost the election.
In an interview with the newspaper O Globo after the federal police operation on Wednesday, Zonshine said: “If Hezbollah chose Brazil, it is because they have people who help them.”
On Thursday, federal police chief Andrei Rodrigues told local media that Zonshine’s comments were “disrespectful.”
“It was a bad surprise,” said Rodrigues. “I completely reject it.”
The Iranian government and Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed group in Lebanon, could not immediately be reached for comment.
Reporting by Gabriel Stargardter; Additional reporting by Maytaal Angel and Jonathan Saul; Editing by Andrew Heavens, Brad Haynes and David Gregorio
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