Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva attends a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, May 9, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov/Pool

Israel announced on Monday it was downgrading diplomatic relations with Brazil after Brasília rejected its proposed ambassador, marking the latest escalation in tensions between the two countries.

“After Brazil, unusually, refrained from replying to Ambassador [Gali] Dagan’s request for agrément, Israel withdrew the request, and relations between the countries are now being conducted at a lower diplomatic level,” the Israeli Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

“The Foreign Ministry continues to maintain deep ties with Israel’s many circles of friends in Brazil,” the statement read.

Israeli authorities also noted Brazil’s “critical and hostile line toward Israel” since the Hamas-led invasion of and massacre across southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

Last year, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva accused Jerusalem of committing “genocide” in Gaza, claiming the only historical parallel was “when Hitler decided to kill the Jews,” after which Israeli authorities declared him a “persona non grata.”

Since the outbreak of the war in Gaza, the Brazilian government has positioned itself among Israel’s harshest critics, joining countries that seek to undermine its defensive military campaign against the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas.

Last year, Brazil recalled its ambassador to Israel and has not named a successor.

The South American country has also recently withdrawn from the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA), a global coalition of nations committed to fighting antisemitism and preserving the memory of the Holocaust.

The Brazilian Israelite Confederation (CONIB), the country’s leading Jewish organization, sharply condemned the move, noting it comes “amid a sharp rise in cases of antisemitism and hatred against Jews worldwide.”

According to CONIB, the measure “represents a moral and diplomatic setback, weakens Brazil’s international commitment to preserving the memory of the Holocaust, and paves the way for the undermining of global efforts in combating antisemitism.”

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz also condemned the move, denouncing Brazil’s growing hostility toward Jerusalem in a social media post on Tuesday.

“[Lula] has now revealed himself as an outspoken antisemite and Hamas supporter by pulling Brazil out of the IHRA, the international body established to fight antisemitism and hatred toward Israel, aligning the country with regimes such as Iran, which openly denies the Holocaust and threatens the existence of the Jewish state,” Katz wrote in a post on X.

“As Israel’s Defense Minister, I affirm: we will defend ourselves against the ‘axis of evil’ of radical Islam, even without the help of Lula and his allies,” the Israeli defense chief continued.

“It is a shame for the wonderful Brazilian people and for the many friends of Israel in Brazil that this is their president. Better days for the relationship between our countries will still come.”

Quando o presidente do Brasil, Lula @LulaOficial, desrespeitou a memória do Holocausto durante meu mandato como Ministro das Relações Exteriores, declarei-o persona non grata em Israel até que pedisse desculpas.
Agora ele revelou sua verdadeira face como antissemita declarado e… pic.twitter.com/O0rzmTYqPA

— ישראל כ”ץ Israel Katz (@Israel_katz) August 26, 2025

Last month, Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira confirmed that Brazil would join South Africa’s case against Israel at the International Court of Justice, accusing the country of committing “state-led genocide” in its defensive war against Hamas in Gaza.