Brazil has an embassy in Tel Aviv and an honorary consulate in Haifa. Israel has an embassy in Brasília and a consulate-general in São Paulo. The Brazilian ambassador to Israel is Gerson Menandro Garcia de Freitas. Israel's current ambassador to Brazil is Daniel Zohar Zonshine. Brazil and Israel maintain close political and military ties. The two nations enjoy a degree of arms cooperation. Brazil is a full member state of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, while several Brazilian elected officials participate in the Israel Allies Caucus, a political advocacy organization that mobilizes pro-Israel parliamentarians in governments worldwide.Member Nations . Israel Allies Fondation. Retrieved 2013-12-01 .
Brazil has the 9th largest Jewish community in the world and the 2nd largest in Latin America, with 107,329 Jews in Brazil in 2010, according to the IBGE census.2010 Brazilian census Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics. Retrieved on 2013-11-13 The Jewish Confederation of Brazil (CONIB) estimates that there are more than 120,000 Jews in Brazil.U.S. Department of State. Brazil, Retrieved on 2013-12-18 Around 25,000 Brazilians live in Israel, most of them being Brazilian Jews.Estimativas de Brasileiros no Exterior . Brazilian Ministry of External Relations. Retrieved 2013-11-14 .
On February 17, 2024, the Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva denounced the military operations of Israel while speaking to reporters at the African Union summit in Addis Ababa, comparing the events in Gaza to that of the Holocaust. The statement was highly contentious within Israel, receiving strongly-worded statements from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other public figures. On February 19, 2024, Brazil then recalled their ambassador to Israel, and summoned the Israeli ambassador for a reprimand, following Israel deeming the president of Brazil a persona non grata.
Role in the establishment of the State of Israel
Brazil played a large role in the establishment of the State of Israel. Brazil held the Presidency office of the United Nations General Assembly in 1947, which proclaimed the Partition Plan for Palestine. Brazilian Ambassador Oswaldo Aranha, then the chairman of the United Nations General Assembly, supported and heavily lobbied for the partition of Palestine toward the creation of the State of Israel.
Feldberg is careful to point out, however, that this vote in favor of Israel was largely political, as Brazil was trying to strengthen relations with the United States, who was in favor of the Partition. Despite this vote, they abstained in a vote that decreed Israel was a sovereign nation. Brazil also did not move its embassy to Jerusalem, largely because the Vatican was against it.
Today, streets in Israeli cities such as Beer-Sheva and Ramat-Gan, and a square in Jerusalem, are named after Oswaldo Aranha. In 2007, a street in Tel Aviv was named in his honor at a ceremony attended by his relatives and Brazil's ambassador to Israel."Tel Aviv Street Named for Brazilian", Dateline World Jewry, World Jewish Congress, September, 2007
Brazil was also one of the first countries to recognize the State of Israel, on 7 February 1949, less than one year after Israeli Declaration of Independence. The first Israeli embassy was opened in 1955 in Rio de Janeiro, then capital of Brazil, with David Shaltiel as the first ambassador.
Political ties Some Brazilian politicians participate in the Israel Allies Caucus, a transnational pro-Israel lobby coalition.Member Nations . Israel Allies Foundation. Retrieved 2013-12-01 . Federal Deputy Fátima Pelaes, a representative for the state of Amapá in the Brazilian Parliament, serves as the co-chair for the Brazil Israel Allies Caucus.Brazil . Israel Allies Foundation. Retrieved 2013-12-01 .
Brazil stands alongside Israel in the fight against antisemitism. Brazil strictly condemns antisemitism, and antisemitic acts are an explicit violation of the law. According to the Brazilian penal code it is illegal to write, edit, publish, or sell literature that promotes antisemitism or racism.Brazil. U.S. Department of State. Retrieved 2013-12-08 . The law provides penalties of up to five years in prison for crimes of racism or religious intolerance and enables courts to fine or imprison for two to five years anyone who displays, distributes, or broadcasts antisemitic or racist material,Brazil. U.S. Department of State. Retrieved 2013-12-08. although antisemitism in Brazil remains rare. Also in 1989, the Brazilian Senate passed a law (law no. 7716 of 5 January 1989) prohibiting the manufacture, trade and distribution of swastikas for the purpose of disseminating Nazism. Anyone who breaks that law is liable to serve a prison term of between two and five years.Legislation against Antisemitism and Holocaust denial . The Coordination Forum For Countering Antisemitism. Retrieved 2013-12-08.
The growing political relations between the two countries over the years are based on a history of friendship and cooperation. In recent years, several Israeli ministers have been to Brazil, in particular the ministers of agriculture, public security, education, diaspora and public diplomacy, and trade. On the Brazilian side, Israel was visited by the Minister of Education (2006), the President of the Central Bank, the Minister of Environment, the Minister of National Integration (2007), the Secretary for Women Policies, the Secretary for Strategic Affairs (2008), the Minister of Defense, the Minister of Tourism and the Head of the Institutional Security Cabinet (2010).Brazil-Israel. Brazilian Embassy in Tel Aviv. Retrieved 2013-12-09. The Minister of Trade, Industry and Development accompanied the former president in March 2010. Brazilian Minister of Foreign Affairs Celso Amorim visited Israel five times between 2005 and 2010.
In July 2014 Brazil condemned "the disproportionate use of force by Israel in the Gaza Strip" and recalled its ambassador to Tel Aviv. Israel called Brazil a "diplomatic dwarf that creates problems rather than contributes to solutions," and compared the proportionality of the death toll to Brazil's defeat at the 2014 World Cup. In August 2014, President of Israel Reuven Rivlin apologized to the President of Brazil Dilma Rousseff for these statements, which he said did not represent the feelings of the Israeli population.
Brazil–Israel relations have improved significantly during the presidency of Jair Bolsonaro since 2019. Brazilian president Bolsonaro has expressed his love for Israel several times. He has even said to have turned Brazil into Israel's new best friend.
In December 2019, Brazil opened a trade office in Jerusalem. Brazil also considered moving its embassy to Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
Past state visits Israeli President Zalman Shazar scheduled a seven-day state visit to Brazil in 1966. From July 18 to July 25, Israel's president was the official guest of President Castello Branco. In honor of the Israeli President, a bill calling upon the Brazilian government to grant honorary citizenship to President Shazar was introduced on May 23, 1966, in the Chamber of Deputies at Brasilia. The bill in the federal legislature was introduced by Deputy Cunha Bueno.Brazil Prepares for Arrival of Israel President on State Visit Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Retrieved 2013-12-08. The Brazilian Post Office Department announced on June 1, 1966, that it would issue a special postage stamp carrying a portrait of Mr. Shazar.Brazil to Issue Postage Stamp in Honor of Israel President’s Visit Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Retrieved 2013-11-14.
Although Juscelino Kubitschek, president of Brazil between 1956 and 1961, visited Israel after his tenure, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was the first Brazilian president to visit Israel while in office, in 2010.
During the 2009 Shimon Peres state visit to Brazil, the Israeli Foreign Ministry announced the reopening of the Israeli consulate-general in São Paulo, Brazil.
Recent state visits
Netanyahu's official visit to Brazil
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit to Brazil between December 2018 and January 2019 marked the first official visit by an Israeli prime minister. The prime minister landed in Brazil on December 28, 2018, in Rio de Janeiro, for a five-day visit. He and Israeli first lady Sara Netanyahu were received by the Israeli ambassador to Brazil, Yossi Shelley, by federal deputy Eduardo Bolsonaro, son of president-elect Jair Bolsonaro, and by the city's mayor, Marcelo Crivella.
Netanyahu's first appointment was at the Copacabana Fort, where he met with Bolsonaro in addition to the future Minister of Economy, Paulo Guedes, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ernesto Araújo, and Minister of Defense, Fernando Azevedo e Silva. Netanyahu invited Bolsonaro to visit Israel. They agreed to strengthen agricultural cooperation in sectors such as the economy, security, water management, agriculture and technology. After the meeting, Bolsonaro offered Netanyahu the highest and most important national prize in Brazil, awarded to prominent and influential people. It was previously awarded to former US president Dwight D. Eisenhower and Queen Elizabeth II. On December 30, he and his wife participated in an event with leaders of the Brazilian Jewish community and a meeting with Brazilian Christian friends from Israel. During the event, the Post Office of the Brazilian state of Amazonas launched a stamp prepared by Israeli Christian friends in Manaus in honor of Israel's 70 years of independence. In Brasilia, on January 1, 2019, Netanyahu participated in the inauguration ceremony of Jair Bolsonaro as president of Brazil, in a historic landmark of relations between the two countries.
President Jair Bolsonaro visits the State of Israel
At the invitation of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Jair Bolsonaro's first official visit was to Israel. The trip took place on March 31, 2019, and it was the first time that a representative from Brazil honored the country with an official trip early in his term. In a speech next to Netanyahu, Bolsonaro emphasized the importance of the former head of the United Nations, Osvaldo Aranha, for the creation of the State of Israel in 1948.
The visit resulted in agreements in the fields of science and technology, defense, public security, civil aviation, cybersecurity, and health. Brazil recalled that Jerusalem has been an inseparable part of the identity of the Jewish people for more than three millennia and has become the political heart of the modern and thriving State of Israel.
In this spirit, and 72 years after participating in the first chapter of the recreation of the State of Israel, Brazil has decided to establish an office in Jerusalem for the promotion of trade, investment, technology and innovation, to be coordinated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Brazilian Export and Investment Promotion Agency (Apex-Brasil). Bolsonaro also visited one of the local symbols of Judaism, the Western Wall, in a historical event.
Agreements Energy
The two governments agreed to cooperate in several sectors, such as oil and gas, thermoelectricity and renewable energies. In the field of energy and mining, they recognized the transformative role of innovation, robotics and cybersecurity. As two relevant natural gas producers, the two countries will exchange best practices on the design of domestic natural gas markets.
Science, Technology and Innovation
During President Jair Bolsonaro's visit to Israel, a Cooperation Agreement in Science and Technology was signed, which will allow the launch of new initiatives in the field of science and technology.
Trade promotion / investments