Brazilian presidential candidate Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro said on Monday that if he wins the election in October, he will relocate Brazil’s embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
“I will move the embassy to Jerusalem during the first six months of my mandate," Bolsonaro told JNS during a visit to Israel. “I hope that God will help me and Brazil have another friend of Israel in office."
Bolsonaro visited the Western Wall and toured Israel’s biblical heartland ahead of a keynote address at a conference on antisemitism in Jerusalem, scheduled for Tuesday. He pledged unwavering support for Israel, continuing the staunchly pro‑Israel stance of his father, former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro.
“It is an honor to defend Judeo-Christian values and to show the Jewish people that the Brazilian people support them," he said, according to JNS.
Jair Bolsonaro was a staunch supporter of Israel during his term as president and visited the country in March of 2019.
The elder Bolsonaro often showcases Israeli flags at rallies, and his sons have been seen in the past wearing IDF and Mossad shirts.
Flávio sharply criticized current Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva during the interview with JNS, calling him an antisemite who “does not represent the Brazilian people."
Da Silva has presented an anti-Israel stance, having compared Israel’s actions in Gaza to those of Nazi leader Adolf Hitler against Jews during World War II.
Later, da Silva announced that the Brazilian ambassador to Israel would be recalled and that Brazil has decided to summon Israel's ambassador to the country for a reprimand.
Despite the uproar over his comments, the Brazilian President doubled down on his rhetoric, writing on X, “What the Israeli government is doing is not war, it is genocide. Children and women are being murdered."
Bolsonaro said the upcoming election presents a stark choice between Lula - whom he described as aligned with Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah, and criminal cartels - and himself, whom he cast as a modern leader focused on cutting bureaucracy and reducing crime.
Brazil’s general elections will take place in October.