Netanyahu and Bolsonaro
Netanyahu and BolsonaroKobi Gideon/GPO

Brazil’s opposition leader in the Senate, Rondolfo Rodriguez, on Wednesday rejected the visit of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro to Israel and said he does not represent the conscience of the Brazilian people, the Palestinian Authority official Wafa news agency reported.

Rodriguez’s comments came during a visit to the PA embassy in Brazil, where he met with PA envoy Ibrahim Alzeben.

Brazil announced this week, during Bolsonaro’s visit to Israel, that it would be opening a trade office with diplomatic status in Jerusalem.

Rodriguez told Alzeben that his visit to the PA embassy is a message of solidarity of the Brazilian people with the Palestinian people, affirming the solidarity of his parliamentary bloc with the Palestinian people.

He claimed many members of the Senate and House of Representatives, including in the government coalition, are opposed to Bolsonaro’s position on the Palestinian cause and close relations with Israel.

Bolsonaro announced after his election that he intended to uphold his campaign promise and move the Brazilian embassy to Jerusalem.

Before his arrival in Israel, the Brazilian president fueled speculation that his government might renege on his campaign promise to move the Brazilian embassy to Jerusalem, after he told local reporters his government might open a “business office” in Jerusalem.

In announcing the trade office in Jerusalem, Brazil’s Foreign Minister, Ernesto Araujo, said the move would not come in place of the promised embassy move – but would be the first step towards an embassy relocation.

Rodriguez told the PA envoy, according to Wafa, that he considered the positions of the President of his country in violation of its historic position supporting the two-state solution in accordance with the international resolutions.

He stressed the position of the Brazilian opposition in support of the Palestinian cause in the Brazilian parliament and to open a trade and cultural office in eastern Jerusalem to care for Brazilian interests.

Arab leaders have condemned Bolsonaro’s plan to relocate the embassy to Jerusalem and have pressured him not to go through with it.

The Arab League recently warned Bolsonaro that moving his country’s embassy in Israel to Jerusalem would be a setback for relations with Arab countries.

Alzeben said last week that moving Brazil’s embassy in Israel to Jerusalem would be an "attack" on Palestinian people and a breach of international law.