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Monday, August 25, 2025
Israel downgrades ties with Brazil after its refusal to approve new ambassador
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleNava Freiberg is The Times of Israel's deputy diplomatic correspondent.
Israel has withdrawn its request to appoint a new ambassador to Brazil after the South American country refused to approve diplomat Gali Dagan, the Foreign Ministry says, declaring that ties with Brasilia are now being conducted “at a lower level.”
“After Brazil, unusually, refrained from replying to Ambassador Dagan’s request for agrément, Israel withdrew the request, and relations between the countries are now being conducted at a lower diplomatic level,” reads a statement from the ministry.
It notes that the “critical and hostile line that Brazil has displayed toward Israel” since the Hamas-led massacre on October 7, 2023, “was intensified” by remarks from Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva last year.
Israel declared Lula a “persona non grata,” after he accused Jerusalem of “genocide” in Gaza, saying the only historical parallel was “when Hitler decided to kill the Jews.”
“The Foreign Ministry continues to maintain deep ties with Israel’s many circles of friends in Brazil,” the statement adds.
Brazil recalled its ambassador to Israel last year and has yet to appoint a replacement.
The Times of Israel Community.