Brazil-Israel relations during Lula da Silva’s years 2003-10

ABSTRACT

This article discusses the political-diplomatic estrangement between Israel and Brazil during Lula da Silva period (2003–10). Despite a productive bilateral commercial relationship, the same couldn’t be said of the political dimension, where relations were particularly strained due to Brazil’s stance regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and its role as an interlocutor in the Iranian nuclear programme.

KEYWORDS:

• Brazil
• Israel
• foreign policy
• Lula da Silva

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. Itamaraty, “Assentamentos Israelenses na Cisjordânia,” 1.

2. Itamaraty, “Conflito entre Israel e Palestina,” 1, 4; and Keinon, “Israel slams ‘diplomatic dwarf’ Brazil,” 2.

3. Governo do Brasil, “Israel’s president elect apologises,” 1.

4. Itamaraty, “Status de Jerusalém,” 2; idem, “Unesco’s executive council’s decision,” 4.

5. O Globo, “Bolsonaro confirms his intention,” 1.

6. After Lula da Silva, Batista Figueiredo was the Brazilian president who signed more contracts with Middle Eastern countries, 17.

7. Cepaluni, Schmitter, and Vigevani, Brazilian Foreign Policy, 7, 83-5; Alden and Vieira. “The new diplomacy of the South,” 1; Dauvergne and Farias, “The Rise of Brazil,” 1; Christensen, “Brazil’s Foreign Policy Priorities,” 1; and Brands, “Dilemmas of Brazilian Grand Strategy,” 17-24.

8. Muxagato, “Les relations Brésil/Iran,” 34-8; and Vieira de Jesus, “Building trust and flexibility,” 1-3.

9. UOL Notícias, “Lula closes his trip,” 1.

10. BBC Brasil, “In Israel, Lula criticises settlements,” 1, 2; and Ibid., “Israeli chancellor boycotts Lula’s speech,” 1,2.

11. Correio Braziliense, “Lula visits Arafat’s grave,” 1, 2; and BBC Brasil, “Lula advocates for ‘listening to more people’,” 1, 2.

12. Embassy Brasilia, “Brazil on Ahmadinejad, Iran’s Nuclear Program, and Visas.”

13. Arraes, “Brasil e Oriente Médio,” 1-30; Santana, “A diplomacia das cúpulas,” 1-3; and Breda dos Santos, “As posições brasileiras nas Nações Unidas,” 1-4.

14. See note 11 above.

15. See note 12 above.

16. Amorim, “Acting Globally,” 5-10; and Discursos, palestras e artigos do Chanceler Celso Amorim 2003-2010.

17. Dos Santos, “A política externa do governo Lula,” 13; and Saraiva, “O Brasil entre israelenses, palestinos e iranianos,” 5.

18. Veja, “No tropeço, aprende-se a andar,” 2; Itamaraty, “Conflito entre Israel e Palestina,” 2; Embassy Brasilia, “Brazil: Laying Blame at the Feet of Israel, US for Attacks in Gaza”; and Casarões, “Brasil, Israel,” 35-8.

19. Dos Santos, “A Política Externa,” 18.

20. Itamaraty, “Resenha de Política Exterior do Brasil,” 356.

21. Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, “Israeli Response, Brazil, Argentina announcement recognising Palestinian State.”

22. Guedes de Oliveira and Gomes dos Santos, “Brazil, the United States and the Tehran Declaration”; Barrionuevo and Sebnem, “Brazil and Turkey Near Nuclear Deal with Iran”; Patti, “Brazil and the nuclear issues in the years of the Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva government”; and Rost, “The nuclear threshold States.”

23. “Netanyahu confirma presença na posse de Bolsonaro,” O Globo, 3,4; Otta, “Com promessa de alinhamento,” 1-4.

24. Adghirni, “Liga Árabe alerta Brasil,” 1-4.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Marcos Aurelio Guedes de Oliveira

Marcos Aurelio Guedes de Oliveira is Full Professor at the Department of Political Science at Federal University of Pernambuco, Recife, Brazil. This article was partially funded by CAPES, Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel, and by CNPq, National Council for Scientific and Technological Development.