Israel’s Foreign Ministry announced Monday (25) that it will downgrade diplomatic relations with Brazil after the country’s Foreign Ministry, known as Itamaraty, failed to act on the nomination of a new ambassador.
Israel had put forward diplomat Gali Dagan in January to head its mission in Brasília. As in all diplomatic appointments, the host country must grant formal approval, known as an agrément. While Brazil did not formally reject the request, it left it unanswered, a gesture widely interpreted in international diplomacy as a refusal.
Israel has now withdrawn Mr. Dagan’s nomination and said it will not submit another name, signaling that ties with Brazil will henceforth be handled at a “lower level,” according to The Times of Israel. Itamaraty has not commented.
Celso Amorim, a former foreign minister and currently a senior adviser to President Lula, said Brazil’s decision is a response to what he described as the “public humiliation” of the Brazilian ambassador in Tel Aviv in 2024.
“There was no veto. They asked for an agrément and we did not give it. We simply did not respond. They understood and withdrew,” Mr. Amorim said. “They humiliated our ambassador there—publicly. After that, what did they expect?”
Mr. Amorim stressed that Brazil seeks constructive relations with Israel but cannot remain silent on the military campaign in Gaza. “We want good relations with Israel. But we cannot accept a genocide, which is what is happening. We are not against Israel; we are against what Prime Minister Netanyahu’s government is doing, which is barbaric.”
Brazil recalled its ambassador to Tel Aviv, Frederico Meyer, in May 2024 and has not nominated a replacement.
Israel’s statement also reiterated that President Lula is considered persona non grata by its government, a designation first made public in February. It cited Brazil’s “critical and hostile line that Brazil has displayed toward Israel” since October 7, which escalated after Mr. Lula compared Israel’s actions in Gaza to those of the Nazis. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said at the time that the remarks had crossed a “red line.”
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