Netanyahu scheduled to meet with Bolsonaro on Friday

This will be the first-ever visit by a sitting Israeli prime minister to Brazil, the fifth most populous country in the world, and the country with the world’s eighth largest economy.

By HERB KEINON
Updated: DECEMBER 27, 2018 01:48
Brazil's President-elect Jair Bolsonaro salutes before receiving a confirmation of his victory in the recent presidential election in Brasilia, Brazil December 10, 2018 (photo credit: ADRIANO MACHADO/ REUTERS)
Brazil's President-elect Jair Bolsonaro salutes before receiving a confirmation of his victory in the recent presidential election in Brasilia, Brazil December 10, 2018
(photo credit: ADRIANO MACHADO/ REUTERS)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to fly to Brazil on Thursday evening and meet with president-elect Jair Bolsonaro, the leader dubbed as the “Trump of the tropics” who has promised to energize and revolutionize Brazilian-Israeli ties.
This will be the first-ever visit by a sitting Israeli prime minister to Brazil, the fifth most populous country in the world, and the country with the world’s eighth largest economy. Netanyahu is slated to take part in the inauguration ceremony for Bolsonaro Tuesday in Brasilia, but there is some talk he might cut his trip short and not attend the ceremony because of the political developments at home.
The focus of Netanyahu’s trip is the meeting with the president-elect, expected to take place Friday in Rio de Janeiro. Efforts are also underway to schedule meetings with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Chilean President Sebastián Piñera, and Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández. The prime minister is expected to attend Shabbat services at a synagogue in Copacabana, and meet evangelical Christian leaders on Sunday.
Brazil has a large and influential Evangelical community. While Bolsonaro is Catholic, his wife is an Evangelical Christian and the head of one of the largest churches in the country.
Modi Ephraim, the Foreign Ministry’s deputy director-general for South and Central America who will be accompanying Netanyahu, said that after more than a decade of rule by the left-wing Workers Party, which was extremely critical of Israel, the potential now for growth in the relationship is “tremendous.”
“Bolsonaro is a right-wing conservative who is a warm friend of Israel, has visited here a number of times in the past, and sees Israel as a model with whom he wants to increase cooperation,” he said.
Ephraim said that diplomatically Bolsonaro wants to lead a change in direction for Brazil and bring it closer to the US, Israel, Japan and Canada. He said for Israel this change is “very important,” since the country – with one-third of the population of South America and its biggest economy – has a great deal of influence not only on other countries in South America, but also in Central America as well.
Furthermore, he said, the country is an influential player in the United Nations and in other international organizations, and a change in its tone on Israel “can be very helpful.”
That change has already been felt, even before Bolsonaro was sworn into office, as Brazil – breaking a pattern of votes against Israel in the UN – voted along with the United States and Israel earlier this month in a General Assembly resolution condemning Hamas.
Bolsonaro has repeated on a number of different occasions that he intends to relocate Brazil’s embassy to Jerusalem, something Ephraim predicted would also influence other South and Central American countries. Another country considering such a move as well is Honduras.
Bolsonaro made security a major part of his campaign, Ephraim pointed out, noting that with a more overall positive atmosphere in the relationship, it will also be easier for Israeli security companies to sign contracts and do business in the country.