Brazil: Our Ambassador Will Not Return to Tel Aviv

The special advisor to the President of Brazil announced that "Brazilian Ambassador to Israel, Frederico Meir, will not return to Tel Aviv after being summoned by the country's president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva." The advisor pointed out that "I do not believe the ambassador will return to Tel Aviv after experiencing a personal insult that discredits Brazil... They wanted to humiliate our country." In February, Brazilian newspaper "Folha de São Paulo" reported that "President Lula da Silva summoned the country's ambassador in Tel Aviv for consultations after Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz declared that the Brazilian president was a persona non grata." The Brazilian president deemed the situation in Gaza as "genocide," while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described these statements as "crossing red lines." Israeli media reported that Foreign Minister Israel Katz lodged a "stern protest" with the Brazilian ambassador regarding Lula da Silva's comments on Gaza.