Brazil senate establishes official Israel Friendship Day amid growing opposition to Lula’s hostile stance

The new observance will take place on April 12, marking the anniversary of Brazil’s opening of its embassy in Israel in 1951.

By Ailin Vilches Arguello, The Algemeiner

Brazil’s Federal Senate has passed a law establishing an official Day of Friendship with Israel, signaling growing pushback against President Lula da Silva’s increasingly hostile stance toward Jerusalem.

In a move led by opposition lawmakers, the Brazilian Senate voted last week to establish April 12 as “Brazil–Israel Friendship Day.”

The measure passed with support from right-leaning and centrist parties, which currently have a majority over Lula’s socialist Workers’ Party in the chamber.

After the veto window closed without intervention from Lula — who has been an outspoken critic of Israel since the Hamas-led invasion of and massacre across southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023 — the law officially took effect on June 25.

This legislation marks a renewed attempt by opposition parties to push back against the government’s hostility toward Israel, following a similar proposal vetoed by former president Dilma Rousseff — also from Lula’s party — in 2013.

The new observance will take place on April 12, marking the anniversary of Brazil’s opening of its embassy in Israel in 1951.

“The new law goes beyond diplomacy, it recognizes and values ​​the historical, cultural and social contribution of the Jewish community in Brazil, a vibrant, plural community deeply rooted in our national fabric,” Davi Alcolumbre, president of the Brazilian Senate and author of the legislation, said in a statement.

This latest move by opposition parties reflects increasing resistance to the government’s official stance and inflammatory rhetoric toward Israel.

In May, Lula accused Israel of “attacking women and children under the pretext of killing terrorists,” described its war against the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas as “a genocide,” and claimed the Jewish state struck hospitals which did not contain Hamas members.

In February, Lula also received pushback for comparing Israel to Nazi Germany and the war in Gaza to the Holocaust — a comparison described as an example of anti-Jewish hate under the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism.

The Brazilian Israelite Confederation (CONIB), the country’s leading Jewish organization, praised the latest legislation for recognizing the strong ties between Brazil and the Jewish community.

“The president of the Senate reaffirms the feelings of the Brazilian people, who have love, respect and gratitude for Israel,” the statement reads.

“The technology of the Jewish state has greatly benefited the Brazilian state, and Israel is also grateful to Brazil, because, in the figure of Oswaldo Aranha, it recognizes the importance of our country in the creation of the Jewish state,” it continued.

Aranha, a Brazilian diplomat, led the United Nations General Assembly in 1947 during the historic vote on the partition plan for British Mandatory Palestine, a key moment that contributed to the international recognition of the State of Israel.

Brazil is home to approximately 92,000 Jews, making it the 10th largest Jewish community in the world and the second largest in Latin America after Argentina.

According to a survey by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), Brazil ranks as the 21st least antisemitic country out of 103, with a quarter of the population expressing “elevated levels of antisemitic attitudes,” making it the third lowest in the region.

However, since the Hamas-led atrocities on Oct. 7, Brazil has experienced a 961 percent spike in antisemitic incidents compared to the same period in 2022.