Braving Jerusalem rain, Bolsonaro becomes
first foreign head of state to be accompanied by Israeli PM on visit to the
holy site
Raphael Ahren
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Brazilian President Jair
Bolsonaro (L) and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu touch the Western Wall, the
holiest site where Jews can pray, in the Old City of Jerusalem on April 1, 2019.
Photo: Menahem KAHANA/POOL/AFP
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Brazilian President Jair
Bolsonaro was joined by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Western Wall
on Monday, becoming the first foreign head of state to visit the site together
with a senior Israeli official.
His unprecedented step could
be seen as a tacit recognition of Israeli sovereignty over that location in
Jerusalem’s Old City, which the international community generally considers
occupied Palestinian territory. The Western Wall, part of the retaining walls
of the Second Temple, is the holiest place where Jews can pray.
After Western Wall Rabbi
Shmuel Rabinovitch read a chapter from the Book of Psalms, Netanyahu and
Bolsonaro approached the wall, braving the rainy Jerusalem weather.
After the Brazilian president
placed a note in one of the cracks, the two leaders leaned against the ancient
stones for several seconds in quiet contemplation.
After the short ceremony, they
toured the Western Wall tunnels, which are located underneath the Old City’s
Muslim Quarter.
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Brazil’s President Jair
Bolsonaro visits the Western Wall tunnels in Jerusalem’s Old City with Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on April 1, 2019. Photo: Amos Ben-Gershom/GPO
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At a visitors center, the two men viewed a virtual reality
recreation of the Jewish temple that once stood on the Temple Mount.
During his election campaign,
and even in the weeks that followed his victory, Bolsonaro promised to follow
US President Donald Trump’s lead in transferring his country’s embassy to
Jerusalem. But before he arrived in Israel on Sunday morning, he appeared to
backtrack, indicating that he would open a trade mission in the city instead.
Meeting Netanyahu on Sunday,
Bolsonaro announced the opening of a “trade, technology and innovation office”
that would be “an official office of the Government of Brazil, in Jerusalem,”
the prime minister said.
“I hope that this is a first
step toward the opening in time of the Brazilian embassy in Jerusalem,”
Netanyahu said on Sunday evening during a joint press appearance at the Prime
Minister’s Residence on the capital’s Balfour Street.
“Recognizing the historic ties
of Jerusalem with the Jewish identity and that the city is the political heart
of the State of Israel, I announced today that Brazil will open there a
Brazilian office to promote trade, investment and exchange in innovation and
technology,” Bolsonaro tweeted later that night.
Reconhecendo os vínculos históricos de Jerusalém com a identidade judaica e também que a cidade é o coração político do Estado de Israel, anunciei hoje que o Brasil abrirá lá um escritório brasileiro para promoção do comércio, investimentos e intercâmbio em inovação e tecnologia. pic.twitter.com/RfMKEl9XtB— Jair M. Bolsonaro (@jairbolsonaro) 31 de março de 2019
So far, the US and Guatemala
are the only countries to have their embassies in Jerusalem. Paraguay moved its
embassy to the city last year, but has since relocated it to Tel Aviv.
Romanian Prime Minister
Viorica Dăncilă on March 24 announced that her country would move its embassy
to Jerusalem, but an actual relocation seems unlikely because President Klaus
Iohannis — who is staunchly opposed to the move — has the last word on the
matter.
On the same day, Honduras
President Juan Orlando Hernández announced his intention to “immediately” open
a diplomatic mission in Jerusalem that would “extend our embassy to the capital
of Israel, Jerusalem.”
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.
The international community
does not recognize Israel’s annexation of East Jerusalem, including the Old
City, and so visiting foreign dignitaries generally refrain from going there in
the company of Israeli officials.
Those who do want to tour the
holy site usually do so in a private capacity, though in recent months an
increasing number of foreign leaders have defied standard protocol and allowed Israeli diplomats to join them at the wall.
On March 20, US Secretary of State
Mike Pompeo became the first American top diplomat to visit the site together with an Israeli prime minister, underlining the
recent trend.
Raphael Ahren, The Times of Israel, 1-4-2019
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