Waack: Irritation between Israel and Brazil is mutual and precedes war

Brazil is on the map of the war in Gaza, fighting with Israel. The disagreements involve harsh exchanges of words between diplomats, but also between security bodies of the two countries.

In the diplomatic field, the irritation is mutual and already precedes the war in Gaza. It was worsened by statements by Lula (PT) about the causes of the war and the use of the word genocide in relation to Israeli military operations in response to Hamas terrorism.

Genocide is the word that Lula’s international advisor repeated this Thursday (9) in Paris at an international conference on humanitarian aid in Gaza.

The Israeli ambassador to Brazil publicly criticized the stances of Brazilian diplomacy, causing enormous discomfort to Itamaraty, which already saw the delay in the withdrawal of Brazilians from Gaza as retaliation against Brazil.

The Israeli ambassador notably worsened the situation by participating in a meeting with former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL) — a basic diplomatic error given the Brazilian political situation, but also the relationship between security and intelligence agencies in Brazil and Israel was shaken.

There is talk of a breach of trust on both sides.

The Federal Police in Brazil investigated an Israeli security and espionage company that sold cell phone monitoring equipment to public agencies in Brazil, angering Israelis.

The Israeli payback was the unusual post on a social network, by the Prime Minister of Israel, saying that the Israeli secret service had alerted the PF to a Hezbollah cell in São Paulo, which in turn led to a harsh retaliation by the Brazilian Minister of Justice and the director general of the Federal Police.

The discomfort is deep and is likely to get worse. The Brazilian diplomatic stance is clearly critical of Israel, and Israel considers that anyone who is not on its side is against it.