Defense Minister Israel Katz on Tuesday responded to the Foreign Ministry's decision to declare Brazil President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva a persona non-grata following Barzil's refused to accept the appointment of Israel's newly designated ambassador.
"When the President of Brazil, Lula @LulaOficial, disrespected the memory of the Holocaust during my tenure as Minister of Foreign Affairs, I declared him persona non grata in Israel until he apologized," Katz wrote in a post on X.
"Now he has revealed his true face as a declared antisemite and supporter of Hamas by withdrawing Brazil from the IHRA - the international body created to combat antisemitism and hatred against Israel - placing the country alongside regimes like Iran, which openly denies the Holocaust and threatens to destroy the State of Israel."
Katz added, "As Israel's Minister of Defense, I affirm: we will know how to defend ourselves against the axis of evil of radical Islamism, even without the help of Lula and his allies."
"Shame on the wonderful Brazilian people and the many friends of Israel in Brazil that this is their president. Better days will still come for the relationship between our countries."