Trip to the Jewish state for the right-wing
leader seen as boost to Netanyahu’s election campaign; Jerusalem waiting to
hear if he plans to move embassy
TOI Staff
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Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu greets visiting Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro after his arrival
in Israel, March 31, 2019. Photo: Haim Tzach/GPO
|
Brazilian President Jair
Bolsonaro landed in Israel Sunday morning for the start of a two-day trip seen
as a boost to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ahead of the April 9 elections.
Bolsonaro, a right-wing
firebrand who had made headlines for playing down the brutality of the
country’s past military dictatorship, opened his comments in Portuguese at the
reception ceremony at Ben Gurion Airport on Sunday with the Hebrew phrase “Ani
ohev et Israel,” or “I love Israel.”
He was expected to announce
during the visit whether he will move the Brazilian embassy from Tel Aviv to
Jerusalem.
In his own comments, Netanyahu
praised the Brazilian leader for his “faith in our shared heritage” and his
commitment to improving Israeli-Brazilian ties.
“When you entered your post in
January, we opened a new era in Israel-Brazil relations,” he said. “On your
first visit outside the American continents, you’re in Israel to bring our
relations to a new high.”
Netanyahu said the two were
slated to visit the Western Wall in Jerusalem during the visit.
He also told his guest about
the ongoing tensions around the Gaza Strip, saying, “Mr. President, you’ve come
at a tense time, and therefore I have ordered IDF forces to remain fully
deployed around the Gaza Strip. That includes tanks, artillery, ground forces
and air forces. We’re prepared for any scenario, and if we are forced to it —
for a broad campaign. We will do what we must for Israel’s security.”
Netanyahu was accompanied by
top cabinet members, but only those from his Likud party, a sign of the
electoral significance of the event. They included Acting Foreign Minister
Israel Katz, Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz, Public Security Minister Gilad
Erdan and Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely.
Bolsonaro has repeatedly
promised to move the embassy to Jerusalem, drawing praise from Netanyahu and US
President Donald Trump despite longstanding criticism from many governments
that such moves could complicate efforts to reach peace between Israel and the
Palestinians.
“As I promised during the
campaign, we intend to move the Brazilian embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
Israel is a sovereign country and we respect them,” Bolsonaro tweeted four days
after winning the presidential election in autumn 2018.
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Brazilian President Jair
Bolsonaro delivers a speech after his arrival in Israel, March 31, 2019. Photo:
Haim Tzach/GPO
|
But Bolsonaro has appeared to
backtrack in recent weeks.
On Thursday, he told reporters he may instead announce the opening
of a “business office” in Jerusalem during his visit to Israel.
Foreign Minister Ernesto
Araujo told reporters earlier this month the government was “still studying”
the embassy transfer plan.
In January, Bolsonaro’s vice
president, retired army Gen. Hamilton Mourao, met the Palestinian ambassador to
Brazil. After the meeting, he told reporters, “Brazil, for now, is not thinking
of moving the embassy.”
Palestinian leaders and
officials from across the Arab world advocated strongly against such a move,
which would be seen as an “attack” on Palestinian people and a breach of
international law, the Palestinian envoy to the Latin American country said
recently.
Brazil is the largest producer
of beef that meets Islamic halal standards and Bolsonaro’s repeated promises to
move the embassy have drawn warnings from the Arab League and the
Arab-Brazilian chamber of commerce.
Marco Bastos, a political
analyst, said Bolsonaro has two groups to please domestically with the move:
evangelicals, a large part of his base, and the Brazilian Jewish community.
“The new right in Brazil is
trying to imitate the new right in the US. There’s no real strategic interest
in moving the embassy,” Bastos said, citing Brazil’s long tradition of
pragmatic, friendly relations with nearly all foreign countries and the
nation’s multi-billion-dollar meat exports to Arab countries.
The decision to open an office
or mission but not move the full embassy would follow similar moves by European
states that have sought to show solidarity with Israel and the US but without
upending decades of diplomatic policy.
In recent weeks, several
countries have opened or announced plans to open trade or cultural centers in
the capital, including the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia.
Bolsonaro is an open admirer
of Trump, whom he visited on his first trip abroad as Brazil’s president.
So far, the US and Guatemala
are the only countries to move their embassies to Jerusalem. Paraguay moved its
embassy to the city last year, but has since relocated it to Tel Aviv.
Netanyahu visited Bolsonaro in
Rio de Janeiro in December and told reporters that “Bolsonaro said it was not a
matter of if, but a matter of when.”
Earlier this month, Israel’s
Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely told The Times of Israel that “We’re not
aware of any change in the president’s position. We really want a declaration
during his upcoming visit.”
Bolsonaro’s trip comes 10 days
before Israelis go to the polls and as Netanyahu has sought to play up his
diplomatic achievements.
The last Brazilian leader to
visit Israel was Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in 2010. Israeli leaders chided da
Silva at the time for laying a wreath at the grave of Yasser Arafat but
refusing to visit the tomb of Theodor Herzl.
Bolsonaro is not slated to
visit Ramallah or meet with Palestinian Authority officials during his trip.
In Jerusalem, he is scheduled
to meet with Netanyahu and President Reuven Rivlin, and visit the Yad Vashem
Holocaust memorial. He is also expected to visit the Home Front Command and
grant an award to the Israeli rescue delegation that helped with rescue efforts
in Brazil after the collapse of the Brumadinho Dam in January, which left at
least 206 people dead.
He will be joined by Netanyahu
at an Israel-Brazil innovation summit that will bring together leading
businesspeople from both countries. Bolsonaro will also visit the offices of
Mobileye, an autonomous driving company based in Jerusalem that was bought by
Intel in 2017.
The Times of Israel Staff, 31-3-2019
Raphael Ahren and agencies contributed to this report.
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