Brazil recalls ambassador to Israel in row over Lula’s Gaza comments
Al Jazeera
Israel says Brazilian president is not welcome in the country after he compared Israel’s war on Gaza to the Holocaust.
Brazil has recalled its ambassador to Israel, and Israel says Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is not welcome in the country in a diplomatic rift after Lula compared Israel’s military campaign in Gaza to the Holocaust.
“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,” Lula said on Sunday.
During World War II, the Nazis systematically killed six million Jewish people.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described Lula’s comments as “disgraceful and grave”.
On Monday, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz announced that Lula is not welcome in the Middle Eastern country until he takes back his comments.