Israel to summon Brazil’s envoy for reprimand after president compares Gaza war to Holocaust

By Lazar Berman

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18 February 2024, 4:08 pm

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Lazar Berman is The Times of Israel's diplomatic reporter

Brazilian President-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva smiles during his election certification ceremony at the Supreme Electoral Court in Brasilia, Brazil, December. 12, 2022. (Eraldo Peres/AP)

Brazil’s ambassador will be called for a reprimand tomorrow, Foreign Minister Israel Katz announces, after the country’s leader compared Israel’s war on Hamas to Hitler’s Holocaust against the Jews.

“The words of the president of Brazil are shameful and serious,” tweets Katz. “No one will harm Israel’s right to defend itself. I have ordered the people of my office to summon the Brazilian ambassador for a reprimand call tomorrow.”

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said earlier today at the African Union summit that “what’s happening in the Gaza Strip with the Palestinian people hasn’t happened at any other moment in history. Actually, it has happened: when Hitler decided to kill the Jews.”