Visiting Brazil president likely won’t announce embassy move

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on Thursday seemed to backtrack on his promise to transfer his country’s embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Rather, he may announce the opening of a “business office” in Jerusalem during his visit to Israel next week, he told reporters in Brasilia.

After taking power in January, Bolsonaro reiterated his promise to follow US President Donald Trump’s lead in relocating the embassy to Jerusalem. But in recent days, the president and other Brazilian officials appeared to back off from the idea, saying the issue continues to be under consideration.

Foreign Minister Ernesto Araujo told reporters last week the government was “still studying” the plan.

Palestinian leaders and officials from across the Arab world advocated strongly against a possible move, which would be seen as an “attack” on Palestinian people and a breach of international law, the Palestinian envoy to the Latin American country said recently.

“Moving the embassy of any country… is a violation of international law and an attack on the Palestinian people,” Ibrahim Alzeben told AFP.

Israel’s Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely, on the other hand, said earlier this month that she anticipated the move to go ahead as promised.

“We expect him to announce the move of the embassy. We’re not aware of any change in the president’s position. We really want a declaration during his upcoming visit,” she told The Times of Israel. “We see Bolsonaro as a ‘twin’ of Trump, in that he is very keen on fulfilling his election promises. And moving the embassy was one of them.”

So far, the US and Guatemala are the only countries to have their embassies in Jerusalem. Paraguay moved its embassy to the city last year, but has since relocated it to Tel Aviv.

Romanian Prime Minister Viorica Dăncilă on Sunday announced that her country would move its embassy to Jerusalem, but an actual relocation seems unlikely because President Klaus Iohannis — who is staunchly opposed to the move — has the last word on the matter.

Also on Sunday, Honduras President Juan Orlando Hernández announced his intention to “immediately” open a diplomatic mission in Jerusalem.

“Honduras will immediately open our official diplomatic mission and this will extend our embassy to the capital of Israel, Jerusalem,” he told AIPAC’s annual Policy Conference conference in Washington. In a formal statement issued a short while later, Hernandez pledged to move his country’s embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem as soon as Israel opens an embassy in Tegucigalpa.

In recent weeks, several countries have opened or announced plans to open trade or cultural centers in the capital, including the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia.

Bolsonaro, a right-wing firebrand who had made headlines for playing down the brutality of the country’s past military dictatorship, is set to arrive in Israel on Sunday morning for a two-day trip.

He is not going to visit Ramallah or meet with Palestinian Authority officials.

In Jerusalem, he is scheduled to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Reuven Rivlin, and visit the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial. He is also expected to visit the Home Front Command and grant an award to the Israeli rescue delegation.

He will be joined by Netanyahu at an Israel-Brazil innovation summit that will bring together leading businesspeople from both countries. Bolsonaro will also visit the offices of Mobileye, an autonomous driving company based in Jerusalem.

During his visit, Israel and Brazil will sign various bilateral agreements in the fields of aviation, science and technology, security and medicine.

“We see the trip as a positive step in the direction of the improvement of the bilateral relations. The signing of agreements can make it more concrete,” said Fernando Lottenberg, the head of Conib, the umbrella organization of Brazilian Jewry.

AFP contributed to this report.