In social media outburst, Katz says Brazil’s Lula ‘revealed his true face’ by withdrawing from IHRA last month

Defense Minister Israel Katz lashes out at Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, accusing him of being a “declared antisemite and supporter of Hamas” after Brazil officially withdrew from the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) in July.

Posting in Portuguese on X, alongside an AI-generated image showing Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei manipulating a puppet-like Lula, Katz recalls that during his tenure as foreign minister, he had already declared the Brazilian leader “persona non grata” in Israel after Lula compared Israel’s war in Gaza to the Holocaust.

Katz charges that Lula has now “revealed his true face,” aligning Brazil with regimes such as Iran that deny the Holocaust and threaten Israel’s existence. He stresses that Israel “will know how to defend itself against the axis of radical Islam” even without Lula’s support, while lamenting that “the wonderful people of Brazil and the many friends of Israel in Brazil” must contend with their president’s stance.

Brazil’s withdrawal from the IHRA — an intergovernmental body dedicated to Holocaust remembrance and combating antisemitism — has been met with sharp condemnation from Jewish organizations worldwide, including the World Jewish Congress.

Meanwhile, Israel’s Foreign Ministry announced yesterday that it is downgrading diplomatic ties with Brazil after the South American country refused to approve the credentials of Israel’s ambassador-designate. The ministry noted that Brazil has pursued a “critical and hostile line” toward Israel since the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led massacre, which escalated after Lula accused Israel of committing “genocide” in Gaza and likened it to Nazi Germany.