Senator Carlos Viana (Podemos-MG), of the opposition, requested that Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira be summoned to testify at the Senate Foreign Relations and National Defense Committee due to Lula’s statements comparing Israeli military action in the Gaza Strip to the Holocaust. The request was made on Monday (19), while the Foreign Minister is in Rio de Janeiro for the G20 meeting.
“The speech generated strong international repercussions, and provoked the start of what could be a serious diplomatic crisis between Brazil and Israel. Such was the negative impact that the Israeli government declared the Brazilian president persona non grata,” said the senator, in the petition.
On Sunday (18), Lula was harshly criticized, especially by the Israeli government, after comparing Israel’s military actions against the Hamas group in the Gaza Strip to the Holocaust, which took place during the Second World War. The statement was made during a press conference in Ethiopia, during a trip through Africa.
The statement resulted in a diplomatic crisis with Israel, with the Brazilian ambassador to the country being summoned after being taken to the Holocaust Museum by Israeli representatives. Also on Monday, Lula was declared persona non grata by the local authorities.
The Evangelical Parliamentary Front issued a statement repudiating Lula’s declarations, saying that the comparison was tantamount to provoking an “unnecessary ideological conflict”. The group, which has more than a hundred MPs, also considered the statements to be “unbalanced” and that “they do not represent the thinking of the majority of Brazilians”.
