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 Brazil |  Palestine |
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Brazil–Palestine relations are the current and historical bilateral relations betweenBrazil andPalestine. On 5 December 2010, Brazil officially recognized theState of Palestine including all of theWest Bank and theGaza Strip.[1] In 2015, theEmbassy of Palestine to Brazil was opened inBrasília,[2] and the Brazilian government received an area inRamallah for installing its diplomatic mission to Palestine.[2]
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In 2010, Brazil has firmly stressed its support for a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders, includingWest Bank and theGaza Strip.[1] The Brazilian Government has also advocated the end of theblockade of the Gaza Strip.[1] On 5 December 2010, it formally recognized the State of Palestine in the 1967 borders, including all of theWest Bank,Gaza Strip andEast Jerusalem.[3][4] The move initiated a chain reaction through the region. Given Brazil's economic prominence, itsSouth American neighbors likely saw low political risks in followingBrasília's lead.[5] In her address to the General Assembly, PresidentDilma Rousseff reiterated Brazil's firm support: "We believe the time has come for us to have Palestine fully represented as a full member in this forum."[6] Brazil voted in favor of Palestine's admission as a full member ofUNESCO and has announced that it will support Palestine's full membership application when it comes to a vote at theSecurity Council.[7][8]
In 2015, theEmbassy of Palestine to Brazil was opened inBrasília,[2] and the Brazilian government received an area inRamallah for installing its diplomatic mission to Palestine.[2]
Following the2018 Brazilian presidential election, President-electJair Bolsonaro, a staunch pro-Israel conservative, threatened to close the Palestinian embassy, and stated that Palestine "is not a country."[9]
In March 2019, Palestinian officials condemned Brazil's opening of commercial office inJerusalem, as Palestinian officials consider Jerusalem as an integral part of the occupied Palestinian territories.[10] Palestinians also condemned the visit of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro to Jerusalem's Western Wall accompanied by Israel's prime minister in 2019.[11]
Under Bolsonaro, Brazil has voted against Palestine in multilateral forums, further leading to the deterioration of Brazil–Palestine relations. In February 2020, Brazil asked theInternational Criminal Court (ICC) to stop its investigation into Israel forwar crimes committed against the Palestinian people. In November 2020, Brazil voted against the approval of a resolution at theWorld Health Organization (WHO) to guarantee access to healthcare services for the Palestinian population residing in the occupied territories.[12]
In 2023, following his reelection, Brazilian PresidentLuiz Inácio Lula da Silva condemned theongoing violence in Gaza, called for a ceasefire in theGaza war and accused Israel of committinggenocide against Palestinians in theGaza Strip.[13][14] On February 17, 2024, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva denounced the military operations of Israel while speaking to reporters at theAfrican Union summit inAddis Ababa, comparing the events in Gaza to that of theHolocaust.[15][16] The statement was highly contentious within Israel, receiving strongly-worded statements from public figures includingBenjamin Netanyahu.[16][17] Even tough Brazilian political leaders criticized the statement, Lula recalled the Brazilian ambassador to Israel,[15] and summoned the Israeli ambassador for a reprimand,[16][18] while Israel deeming the president of Brazil apersona non grata.[15] Since then, Lula maintained his position.[19]
During his speech at the International Conference for the Peaceful Settlement of the Palestinian Question and the Implementation of theTwo-State Solution at theUnited Nations General Assembly in 2025, Lula declared:
"The conflict between Israel and Palestine is the paramount symbol of the obstacles faced bymultilateralism. [...] The tyranny of the veto sabotages the very reason for the UN's existence of avoiding atrocities like the ones that motivated its founding from happening again. A state is based on three pillars: territory, population and government, all of which have been systematically undermined in the Palestinian case. The terrorist acts committed byHamas are unacceptable. Brazil was emphatic in condemning them. But the right to defence does not authorize the indiscriminate killing of civilians. Nothing justifies taking the lives or mutilating more than fifty thousand children. Nothing justifies destroying 90% of Palestinian homes. Nothing justifies using hunger as a weapon of war, nor targetingstarving people seeking help. How can we talk about territory in the face of an illegal occupation that grows with each new settlement? How do you keep a population in the face of theethnic cleansing we are witnessing in real time? There is no more appropriate word to describe what is happening in Gaza than 'genocide'. What is happening in Gaza is not only the extermination of thePalestinian people, but an attempt to annihilate their dream of a nation. Both Israel and Palestine have the right to exist".[20][21]
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