Live Update 
From the Liveblog of
Monday, February 19, 2024
From the Liveblog of
Monday, February 19, 2024
Foreign Ministry says Brazil’s Lula is unwelcome in Israel until he apologizes
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva speaks during a ministerial meeting to discuss infrastructure investment projects at Planalto Palace in Brasilia, on November 3, 2023. (Evaristo Sa/AFP)
After Brazil recalls its ambassador to Israel, Foreign Minister Israel Katz says the country’s president is unwelcome in Israel, since he compared the war in Gaza to the Nazi Holocaust.
“We will not back down,” says Katz. “Until Brazilian President Lula apologizes and retracts his antisemitic words of incitement which he hurled at the Jewish people, he will be an unwelcome personality in the State of Israel.”
Brazil is also said to be summoning the Israeli ambassador in the country for a conversation, after the Brazilian ambassador in Israel was called to Yad Vashem for a reprimand following Lula’s remarks.
