Middle East Monitor / December 16, 2019
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday he has been given assurances by the son of Brazil’s president that Brazil will follow the United States and move its embassy to Jerusalem next year, Reuters reports.
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has signalled before he intends to move his country’s embassy in Israel to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv, but senior officials later backtracked for fear of damaging trade ties with Arab countries.
Brazil did, however, open a trade mission to Israel in Jerusalem this year.
Bolsonaro’s son, lawmaker Eduardo Bolsonaro, told the new trade mission that, prior to traveling, his father, “told me that for sure, as a commitment, he’s going to move the embassy to Jerusalem.”
He did not give a date.
Netanyahu later issued a statement saying he met with Eduardo Bolsonaro, who told him they had “committed to move Brazil’s embassy to Jerusalem in 2020.”
US President Donald Trump broke global consensus by recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital in late 2017 and moving the US embassy there the following May.
Most world powers say the city’s status should only be decided as part of a peace process with the Palestinians.
