Netanyahu, Brazil’s next president hail alliance, but no mention of embassy move
After talks in Rio on first-ever visit by an Israeli PM, Netanyahu and Bolsonaro speak of budding ‘brotherhood,’ ignore Jerusalem issue
RIO DE JANIERO (AFP) — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Brazil’s president-elect Jair Bolsonaro on Friday announced a nascent “brotherhood” between their countries that will boost economic, military, and technological cooperation.
The two issued the warm words to the media after a meeting in a century-old military fort on Rio de Janeiro’s Copacabana beach, at the beginning of the first-ever visit by an Israeli prime minister to Brazil.
Netanyahu said Bolsonaro had accepted an invitation to make his own visit to Israel, without giving a date.
The Israeli leader is to stay on through Tuesday to join other foreign dignitaries at the inauguration in Brasilia of Bolsonaro, a far-right, security-conscious politician and former army officer elected in October on pledges to crack down on endemic crime and corruption.
Bolsonaro, sometimes called the “Trump of the tropics” for a similar style to US President Donald Trump and rejection of multilateral diplomacy, emphasized the bond he wants to build with Netanyahu, a firm US ally.
“More than partners, we will be brothers in the future, in economy, technology, all that can bring benefit to our two countries,” Bolsonaro said. He also spoke of cooperation in military and agriculture matters.
Netanyahu, calling his visit “historic,” also spoke of “the brotherhood, the alliance” the two planned as something that “can carry us to great heights.”
“It’s hard to believe that we had no such contacts before,” he said.
Later, the two leaders visited a synagogue in the city.
Netanyahu and Brazilian President elect @jairbolsonaro arrive at Rio synagogue and the crowd goes wild pic.twitter.com/IsIqwSTYEX
— Barak Ravid (@BarakRavid) December 28, 2018
Embassy move
However there was no mention of Bolsonaro’s post-election declaration — later walked back — that he intended to follow Trump in moving his country’s embassy in Israel to Jerusalem.
Netanyahu had told reporters on his flight to Brazil that “you can be certain I will speak with him about that in our first meeting.” But neither man raised the topic in their comments to media, and no questions were taken.
An embassy move could put at risk lucrative Brazilian poultry and halal meat exports to Arab countries, which fiercely oppose any unilateral moves seen as cementing Israel’s claim to all of Jerusalem as its capital.
The Palestinians view East Jerusalem as the capital of their future state, and most countries in the world back a longstanding consensus that Jerusalem’s status can only be resolved through negotiations and as part of an Israeli-Palestinian peace process.
Nearly 20 percent of Brazil’s $5 billion beef exports go to 17 Arab countries.
Brazil-Israel trade currently amounts to $1.2 billion. Bolsonaro said Tuesday he is looking to import Israeli technology to produce water for Brazil’s parched northeast.
Rightward shift
Bolsonaro’s ascent to the presidency represents a dramatic, rightward shift in Brazil’s politics.
For decades, the country has been under center-left and center-right rule and resolutely sought to carve out foreign policy independent of the United States. In 2010 the country recognized a Palestinian state, and it nurtured trade and investment relations with China.
But Bolsonaro has spoken with hostility of China’s investments in Brazil, and he and one of his politician sons have reached out to Trump and people in his orbit.
He and his team have also excluded the far-left leaders of Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua from attending the inauguration in Brasilia, although Bolivia’s leftwing President Evo Morales received an invitation.
Other VIPs attending include conservative Chilean President Sebastian Pinera, Hungary’s far-right Prime Minister Viktor Orban, and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
Meeting Pompeo
Netanyahu made his Brazil trip despite domestic political turmoil in Israel and a spike in military volatility in neighboring Syria.
Pompeo and Netanyahu are to discuss Syria on the sidelines of Bolsonaro’s swearing-in, an Israeli official and the US State Department said.
US allies including Israel were caught by surprise by President Donald Trump’s abrupt announcement last week that he was pulling US troops out of Syria, where Israel’s arch-foe Iran has built up a significant military and political presence.
Israel has made several aerial strikes in Syria against positions held by Iran and its Lebanese militia Hezbollah.
Domestically, Netanyahu is maneuvering to extend his reign in Israel despite a slew of corruption allegations. On Wednesday, Israel’s parliament approved a government decision to call early elections for April 9.
