In Israel, Bolsonaro follows in Trump's footsteps | Bra …

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From Brasilia

"I love Israel." On landing at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv, President Jair Bolsonaro pronounced this sentence in Hebrew to show his determination to establish a preferential relationship with the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, another chapter of the government. automatic alignment with Donald Trump. .

Taking as a reference Trump, who opened the embbady in Jerusalem, Bolsonaro yesterday announced the installation of a "business promotion office" in this sacred city for Jews, Muslims and Muslims. Christians.

The decision to create a representation, despite the disapproval of the international community and in particular the Arab countries, had been anticipated by the South American president two weeks ago at the White House.

"Israelis and Brazilians share cultural values ​​and traditions such as the appreciation of freedom and democracy, together our nations can achieve great achievements," said Bolsonaro shortly after the start of his visit.

"Obrigado," replied Netanyahu in Portuguese. "I'm going to tell you a secret, I hope it's the first step so that one day the Brazilian embbady arrives in Jerusalem … we're doing the ## 147 ## 39; history. "

The leader of the right-wing party Likud, who will seek re-election in eight days, said that "it is the largest Brazilian delegation" that went to his country.

The mission includes Foreign Minister Ernesto Araújo, General Augusto Heleno, Minister of the Institutional Security Cabinet, Admiral Bento Albuquerque, Minister of Mines and Energy, and Brigadier Raúl Botelho , Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces.

After the first meeting at the Tel Aviv airport, leaders kept others in Jerusalem where they signed several agreements focusing on the areas of defense and cybersecurity. Israel has announced that the national petroleum company Petrobras will participate in calls for tenders to exploit gas and oil. At the end of the day, Netanyahu and his wife offered dinner.

"My friend Netanyahu and I want to bring our people closer, our military," said the retired army captain, who took office last January. Netanyahu and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo attended the inauguration ceremony.

To establish a connection so early and so intensely with Israel means throwing into the basket a diplomatic tradition forged by several governments. For decades, the palace of Itamaraty (Chancery) has established a delicate equidistance between Israelis and Arabs. Nine years ago, during his last particularly active term in the Middle East, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva had officially recognized the State of Palestine and had previously given the status of embbady to his office from Brasilia.

"Dear Brother Netanyahu, it is an honor to return to Israel, we have had a brief moment of estrangement but God knows what he is doing," Bolsonaro said, probably evoking the diplomatic tension that has arisen. 2014 when former President Dilma Rousseff had summoned the ambbadador to Tel Aviv. by the attacks in the Gaza Strip.

Last week, Bolsonaro did not respond to the invitation of the ambbadador to Brasilia, Ibrahim Alzebem, to meet with members of the Palestinian National Authority in Ramalá during his stay in Israel.

Yesterday, Anna Ashrawi, a member of the leadership of the Palestine Liberation Organization, judged "unacceptable" that the Brazilian head of state is going to "East Jerusalem" today, because it is a "occupied Palestinian territory" by Israel.

The creation of an office with the green-yellow flag in Jerusalem, even though it is not an embbady, ​​is a decision that lacks the support of some members of the civil-military coalition that took power in Brazil exactly three months ago.

The military branch disapproves of this reckless move, as recently announced generals Mourao Hamilton, vice president, and Augusto Heleno, Minister of Institutional Security. According to Israel, opting for Israel as an exclusive partner in the Middle East, some diplomats – who expose themselves under the guise of anonymity – could have security implications and economic damage as countries Arab countries will boycott imports of Brazilian food products. Agribusiness entrepreneurs and the Minister of Agriculture, Tereza Cristina da Costa Dias, are also alarmed.

Yesterday, shortly after his landing in Tel Aviv, retired General Heleno told reporters that the announcement of the aforementioned office in Jerusalem had not been confirmed yet, but a few minutes later, Bolsonaro had denied it. This informal comment is another indication of the differences between military leaders and the intense "Bolsonarianism" with regard to relations with Israel and also with the United States.

The president, his children, some ministers and the Brazilian writer Olavo de Carvalho, based in the state of Virginia in the United States, are part of the far-right faith group.

Steve Bannon is perhaps the main link in the United States. He considers Trump and Bolsonaro as the vanguard of a "right-wing populism" of the world projection. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is linked to Christian Zionists. Pompeo was one of the first foreign personalities to call Bolsonaro after his victory in the runoff of October 28th. In parallel with announcements on bilateral agreements, Bolsonaro quoted in one of his speeches yesterday that he was baptized in 2016 by an evangelical pastor on the Jordan. This memory could have been a gesture for American Evangelical Zionism as well as for its neo-Pentecostal electorate, to whom it owes much of the victory in last October's elections against candidate Fernando Haddad, of the PT.