Israel has accused Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva of trivialising the Holocaust after he likened the Israeli War against Hamas to the Nazi genocide during World War II.
Addressing reporters at the 37th African Union Summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Lula said, “What is happening in the Gaza Strip with the Palestinian people has no parallel in other historical moments. In fact, it did exist when Hitler decided to kill the Jews.”
“It’s not a war of soldiers against soldiers. It’s a war between a highly prepared army and women and children,” Lula added.
Israel has described the comment as “disgraceful and grave” and has summoned the Brazilian ambassador.
In a statement released on X, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said “This is a trivialisation of the Holocaust and an attempt to attack the Jewish people and the right of Israel to self-defence. Drawing comparisons between Israel and the Nazis and Hitler is to cross a red line.”
Israel’s foreign minister, Israel Katz, said in a statement in Hebrew that the remarks were “shameful and egregious.”
Brazil’s president initially condemned the October 7 Hamas-led attack, but since then has been critical of the Israeli government initiative in Gaza.
In November last year, he condemned the war’s impact on civilians, saying, “I have never seen such brutal, inhumane violence against innocent people.”
Lula has also condemned the suspension of humanitarian aid to the United Nations Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA), saying that aid should not be cut off and that an investigation should take place into the errors that have taken place.
According to Gaza’s health ministry over 28,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s invasion of Gaza following the Hamas-led strike that killed over 1,200 people.
