Israel announces it will "downgrade" relations with Brazil.

247 - Israel's Foreign Ministry announced on Monday (25) that it will "downgrade" diplomatic relations with Brazil, reported The Times of Israel.

The decision is linked to the agrément request for diplomat Gali Dagan, nominated in January to assume the ambassadorship in Brasília, which remains under review.

"After Brazil exceptionally refrained from responding to Ambassador Dagan's request for agrément, Israel withdrew its request, and relations between the countries are now conducted at a lower diplomatic level," says a statement from the Israeli ministry.

The special advisor to the President of the Republic, Celso Amorim, said in an interview with the G1 news portal that there was no formal veto: the Ministry of Foreign Affairs simply left the request unanswered, in reaction to the treatment given to the Brazilian ambassador in Tel Aviv, Frederico Meyer, last year.

“There was no veto. They asked for an agreement and we didn’t give it. We didn’t respond. They understood and gave up. They humiliated our ambassador there, a public humiliation. After that, what did they want?” said Amorim.

Brazilian diplomats believe Ambassador Meyer was the target of an "ambush" by the Israeli government after being summoned to explain President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's statement comparing the massacre of Palestinian civilians to the Holocaust. In an attempt at intimidation, Meyer was presented to the Israeli Foreign Minister speaking in Hebrew, even though Meyer does not speak the language.

In May 2024, the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Itamaraty) decided to withdraw Ambassador Meyer from Tel Aviv.