Lula da Silva's anti-Israeli agenda deepens

Recently, Brazil put into effect a free trade agreement with the Palestinian Authority in order to show support for the Palestinians amid a war that began with the Oct. 7 massacre perpetrated by Hamas and other terrorist groups in southern Israel. It is a pact that has been waiting to be ratified for more than a decade.

Brazil thus became the first country in the Southern Common Market (Mercosur) to sign such an agreement with the Palestinian Authority.

Brazil's socialist President Luis Inácio "Lula" da Silva announced the agreement during the 64th Mercosur Summit, held in Paraguay, with criticism of Israel but without mentioning the Hamas terrorist massacre, which sparked the war in the region.

"We are proud to be the first country in the bloc to ratify the free trade agreement with Palestine. However, I cannot but regret that this happens in a context in which the Palestinian people are suffering as a result of a completely senseless war," da Silva said.

In a statement, the Brazilian Foreign Ministry said the agreement constitutes "a concrete contribution to an economically viable Palestinian state, which can live peacefully and harmoniously with its neighbors."

It should be noted that Brazil recognized a Palestinian state in 2010 and allowed the construction of a Palestinian embassy in Brasilia that same year.

Ibrahim Al Zeben, Palestinian ambassador to Brazil, described the recent decision by the Brazilian government as "courageous, supportive and timely."

In statements to Reuters, the official asserted that it is "the effective way to support peace in Palestine."

Da Silva hostile to Israel

In February of this year, a diplomatic conflict arose between Brazil and Israel, when Jerusalem declared da Silva persona non grata following repudiatory statements by the Brazilian president, who accused the Jewish state of committing "genocide" in Gaza and compared the actions of Israeli forces against the Palestinians to those of Adolf Hitler against the Jews during World War II.

"What is happening in the Gaza Strip is not a war, it is a genocide," da Silva told the African Union Summit in Ethiopia. "It is not a war of soldiers against soldiers. It is a war between a specially armed military against women and children. What is happening in the Gaza Strip with the Palestinian people has happened almost at no other time in history. In fact, it only happened once when Hitler decided to kill the Jews," the president added.

Da Silva's statements were immediately repudiated by the Israeli government. "It is a serious antisemitic attack," expressed Israel Katz, minister of foreign affairs of the Jewish state.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also condemned da Silva's statements. "The words of the President of Brazil are shameful and alarming. This is a trivialization of the Holocaust and an attempt to harm the Jewish people and Israel’s right to defend itself. The comparison between Israel with the Nazi Holocaust and Hitler is crossing a red line." He added: "Israel is fighting for its defense and securing its future until complete victory and it does so while upholding international law."

Da Silva's controversial anti-Israeli record

In 2009, during Da Silva's first term as head of government, Brazil's president welcomed his Iranian counterpart at the time, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a Holocaust denier who had called for "wiping Israel off the map."

In 2010, Da Silva made an official visit to Israel and the Palestinian-controlled territories. On that occasion, the president slammed Israeli settlements in the West Bank, claiming that they were harming the peace process and called for the establishment of a Palestinian state.

Da Silva also met with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and then-Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, and stated, "I dream of an independent and free Palestine living in peace in the Middle East."

Moreover, during his visit, he showed his bias in favor of the Palestinians, as he refused to visit the tomb of the father of Zionism Theodor Herzl, who in that year marked 150 years since his birth. However, he decided to deposit flowers at the grave of terrorist Yasser Arafat, leader of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and president of the Palestinian Authority, in Ramallah, in the West Bank.

That same year, after his visit to the region, da Silva's government recognized the Palestinian state.

Da Silva's ignorance about the conflict between Israel and Palestinian terrorists

In May of this year, President da Silva made an unusual mistake that demonstrates the president's ignorance of the conflict between Israel and Palestinian terrorists in Gaza. At a government conference on children's rights, Lula stated that "12.3 million children died in the Gaza Strip and Israel" because of "an insane war."

However, according to 2023 data, the total population between Israel and the Gaza Strip is around 11 million inhabitants. 

Moreover, the figure cited by da Silva is approximately 375 times higher even than the provided by the Hamas Health Ministry, which has been repeatedly questioned for having been manipulated by the Islamist group and does not distinguish between terrorists and civilians.