Brazil will not retract Lula’s Gaza comments in diplomatic row with Israel

Brazil does not intend to retract President Luiz Inacio da Silva’s comment comparing Israel’s war on Gaza to Hitler’s treatment of Jews that sparked a diplomatic rift between the countries, sources with knowledge of internal discussions said on Monday.
Brazil’s foreign ministry has already summoned the Israeli ambassador for talks and recalled its own ambassador to Israel after Israeli officials gave him a formal reprimand following Lula’s comment.
“What is happening in the Gaza Strip with the Palestinian people has no parallel in other historical moments,” Brazil’s president said. “In fact, it did exist when Hitler decided to kill the Jews,” said Lula during a weekend African Union summit in Addis Ababa, referring to Nazi war crimes during World War Two.
Earlier on Monday, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz announced that Lula is not welcome in the Middle Eastern country until he takes back his comments.