Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro is planning to make his first visit to Israel at the the end of the month, but reports claim that he is still undecided about moving the Brazilian embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
Bolsonaro originally made the pledge to move the embassy while he was on the campaign trail in November. Following Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s appearance at the Brazilian president’s inauguration in January, Bolsonaro reiterated his intention to follow the United States’ example.
A recently published Reuters report quoted a Brazilian government official, who spoke only on the condition of anonymity, who maintained that “something will have to be said about the embassy during the trip.” Reports within Brazil have highlighted that Bolsonaro may not be able to push through the embassy move – de jure recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital – following strong opposition from military figures within his cabinet.
During his visit to Brazil, Netanyahu said “This is a historic visit, the first time an Israeli prime minister has visited Brazil and we are forging a great alliance here with a huge super power of nearly a quarter billion people.”
Before the end of his trip, Netanyahu invited Bolsonaro to visit Israel in a bid to strengthen cooperation across several areas including the economy, security, agriculture and technology.
Since Bolsonaro’s inauguration, the bond between Brazil and Israel has continued to strengthen. At the end of January, Israel sent a delegation of approximately 130 divers, engineers and medical experts, to aid in the search for survivors following the collapse of a dam that killed at least 99 people and left hundreds missing.