The Improving Relations between Brazil and Israel and Its Impact on US Foreign Policy

[Judi Lynn]

Igor Sabino | May 20, 2019

On March 31, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro initiated a four-day official visit to Israel. The trip consolidates the improvement of relations between the two countries and reciprocates the visit Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made to Brazil on January 1. The prime minister was one of the main international leaders who participated in Bolsonaro’s presidential inauguration in Brasília.

On his first day in Israel, the Brazilian president met with Netanyahu and expressed his love for the Jewish state several times, even trying to pronounce “I love Israel” in Hebrew. According to his own words, it was the beginning of a “more balanced Brazilian foreign policy in the Middle East.” The comment was a clear reference to the governments of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Dilma Rousseff, from the left wing Brazilian Worker’s Party (PT). In 2014, for example, during a confrontation between Israel and Hamas on the Gaza Strip, Dilma affirmed Israel was using disproportionate force against the Palestinians. The Israeli government criticized the commentary and affirmed Brazil was a “diplomatic dwarf.” In that time, Bolsonaro was a federal deputy and wrote an apology letter to the Israeli embassy in Brazil, getting the support of large sectors of the Brazilian evangelical community.

Bolsonaro’s alignment with Israel was demonstrated on several occasions before and during his presidential campaign. In 2016, he visited the country and was baptized by an evangelical pastor at the Jordan River. During the national elections, in 2018, one of his main promises to attract evangelical support was to move the Brazilian embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and close the Palestinian Authority’s diplomatic representation in Brasília. Although the evangelical support was not based entirely on this issue, the promise was very appealing, and approximately 11 million evangelicals voted for him.

In light of this, many political analysts and Christian leaders in Brazil were expecting the official announcement of the embassy move would be made on Bolsonaro’s recent trip to Israel. The president, however, announced just the opening of a commercial office in Jerusalem, as an extension of the embassy in Tel Aviv. Some influential evangelical pastors with close ties to Bolsonaro guarantee the commercial office is just a first step until the move of the embassy. But the decision can also be perceived as an attempt to please another group of important domestic allies: Brazilian entrepreneurs who fear economic losses in their commercial relations with Arab countries. The fear is well-based; Brazil is the largest exporter of halal meat in the world. Some members of the Arab League, such as Egypt and the Palestinian Authority, indicated they would retaliate if Brazil moves the embassy.

More:
https://providencemag.com/2019/05/improving-relations-brazil-israel-impact-us-foreign-policy/