Frederico Meyer was taken to the Holocaust Museum for reprimand; Ministry of Foreign Affairs sees attempted escalation by Israel
Itamaraty demonstrated irritation with the attitude of the Israeli Foreign Minister, Israel Katz, to take the Brazilian ambassador, Frederico Meyer, to the Holocaust Museum. According to the Power360the perception was that the country is trying to force an even greater escalation of the diplomatic crisis between Brazil and Israel.
The act was called after the president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) to compare Israeli military action in the Gaza Strip with the extermination of Jews by Adolf Hitler in the Second World War.
On his profile on X (formerly Twitter), Israel Katz said that the memorial represents what “the Nazis did to the Jews”, including their family members. He showed the Brazilian ambassador a document with the names of his grandparents, victims of the Nazi regime.
Kartz also said that Lula is “persona non grata” (expression to designate when a person is not welcome) in Israel until they retract their statements.
For Itamaraty, the attitude “does not exist” in diplomacy and the fact “Does'nt help” in resolving the diplomatic row. Brazilian diplomacy assesses that everything would be an attempt to further escalate international tension with Brazil.
Despite the irritation, the ministry preaches calm in dealing with the matter. Brazilian diplomats are still officially assessing the situation.
Just like Planalto, which also discussed the topic this Monday (19.Feb.2024) at Palácio da Alvorada with Lula. On a day with no official agenda published, the PT member received at his official residence ministers Paulo Pimenta (Secom), Alexandre Padilha (Institutional Relations), Márcio Macêdo (General Secretariat), Jorge Messias (General Attorney's Office) and special advisor Celso Amorim.
After the meeting, the ministers' instructions were to say that only the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mauro Vieira, would comment on the issue in the government.
Itamaraty was officially contacted by the Power360 twice this Monday morning, at 8am and 10am, but did not officially comment on the topic.
No excuses
The government believes, behind the scenes, that the president went overboard when comparing the attacks on Gaza to the Holocaust, while Israel exaggerated when declaring Lula “persona non grata”. An apology from the PT member, with the current scenario, would be unlikely.
The Planalto's idea is to let the dust settle and act through diplomatic channels to ease the relationship with Israel. In the view of Esplanada's political wing, the president wanted to speak impromptu and exaggerated the comparison, breaking the tradition of balance and sobriety in Brazilian diplomacy.
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