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12-11-2023
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL: An unusual statement by Israeli spy agency Mossad saying that it had helped foil a Hezbollah attack in Brazil is the latest incident to strain relations between Israel and Latin America’s largest nation against the backdrop of the Gaza war.
On Wednesday, Brazil arrested two people on terrorism charges as part of an operation to take down a suspected Hezbollah cell planning attacks on Brazilian soil. Later that day, Mossad publicly thanked Brazil’s police and said, “Given the backdrop of the war in Gaza,” Hezbollah was continuing to attack Israeli, Jewish and Western targets.
Mossad’s comments angered Brazilian Justice Minister Flavio Dino, who on Thursday delivered a stiff rebuke to Israel, saying on social media that “Brazil is a sovereign country,” and “no foreign force orders around the Brazilian Federal Police.”
Dino did not explicitly deny any of the details in the Israeli statement and seemed more angered by its timing, tone and the link it drew to the current war in Gaza.
“We appreciate appropriate international cooperation, but we reject any foreign authority that deems to direct Brazilian police bodies, or use our investigations for the use of propaganda or its political interests,” he wrote, adding that Brazil’s probe had “nothing to do with international conflicts.”
A Brazilian Federal Police source said Dino was angry because the Mossad statement made it look like Brazil was taking orders from Israel and could be perceived to be taking sides in the war.
A spokesperson for the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office, which oversees Mossad, had no immediate comment.
Dino’s comments reflect growing unease among Brazilian officials with Israel’s conduct in the wake of the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas, and the subsequent bombardment of Gaza.
There are still some 30 Brazilians stuck in Gaza, weeks after the conflict began, and Brazil has grown increasingly irate with Israel over their slow release, two sources said. Brazil’s Foreign Ministry told Israel this week that the diplomatic relationship would become unsustainable if any harm were to befall the trapped Brazilians, the sources said.
Brazilian diplomats told media they could not understand why Israel was slow-walking their release, given that President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has balanced criticism of the Hamas attacks with calls for a cease-fire.
Later Thursday, Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen told his Brazilian counterpart, Mauro Vieira, that “unexpected closures” at the borders have prevented Brazilian citizens from leaving Gaza, according to Brazil’s ministry. (Int’l News Desk)
