Brazil erases Israel from passports of Jerusalem-born citizens

Brazilian passports of citizens who were born in Jerusalem will no longer name Israel as their holders’ country of birth, the foreign ministry in Brasilia says.

The decision to omit Israel from such documents was made last year, the Brazilian embassy in Tel Aviv told the Folha de Sao Paulo daily, which published an article on the subject on Thursday, but only recently reached Brazilian media, alerted to the change in policy by Brazilian Israelis.

The United States, Canada and France also omit Israel from passports for holders born in Jerusalem, stating only the city’s name.

The number of passport holders affected is estimated at 60 out of approximately 15,000 Brazilian Israelis, according to the daily.

Floriano Passero, a Brazilian-Jewish opposition lawmaker serving in the country’s federal lower house and social affairs minister in the State of Sao Paulo, condemned the decision as “arbitrary.”

The move “will only reinforce the Brazilian government’s biased views of Israel,” he wrote in a statement published Friday.

“Regardless of the path to peace between the two peoples, Jerusalem certainly will remain an inseparable part of Israel and a citizen born in Jerusalem has every right to display their country of birth: Israel,” he wrote.

Brazilian-Israeli relations have deteriorated in recent years, as Brasilia under the ruling Socialist Workers’ Party has vocally condemned what it considered Israeli violations of international law.

— JTA