Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira on Tuesday blasted his Israeli counterpart Israel Katz after the latter reprimanded Brazilia's envoy to the Jewish state following remarks by Brazilian President Lula da Silva comparing Israel's military campaign in the Gaza Strip to Nazi despot Adolf Hitler's treatment of the Jewish people during World War II.
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Vieira called Israel's response to Lula's comments "unacceptable" and "untruthful." "For a foreign ministry to address a head of state from a friendly country in this way is unusual and revolting," Vieira told Reuters and another news agency at the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro.
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Foreign Minister Israel Katz and Brazilian President Lula da Silva
(Photo: Ricardo STUCKERT / BRAZILIAN PRESIDENCY / AFP, EPA)
"It is a shameful page in the history of Israel's diplomacy," Vieira said, adding that Israel tries to create a smokescreen to cover up what is happening in Gaza.
The Israeli government did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Vieira's remarks outside of business hours. Brazil said it does not intend to retract Lula's comments.
Foreign Minister Katz said during a tour of the Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum with Brazilian Ambassador Frederico Meyer on Monday that Israel "will not forget nor forgive," calling Lula's comments "a serious antisemitic attack" and saying that the Brazilian president is "persona non grata in Israel until he takes it back."
Hours later, the Brazilian Foreign Ministry announced Meyer's recall and said that Israeli Ambassador Daniel Zonshine was summoned for a reprimand.