Brazil’s far-right President-elect Jair Bolsonaro confirmed on Thursday that the country will move its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, making the Latin American country the largest after the United States to make the controversial switch, The Telegraph informed.
The move from Tel Aviv, which would be defiance of the wishes of Palestinians and the geopolitical view of the region held by most of the rest of the world, is the latest controversial announcement by the former army captain, who has wasted no time in implementing his hardline conservative agenda since his election win on Sunday.
“As previously stated during our campaign, we intend to transfer the Brazilian Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Israel is a sovereign state and we shall duly respect that,” Bolsonaro wrote in a tweet. The move squarely aligns Bolsonaro with his US counterpart, and bolsters his image as a “Tropical Trump.”
“I congratulate my friend Brazilian president-elect Jair Bolsonaro for his intention to move the Brazilian embassy to Jerusalem, a historic, correct and exciting step!” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement.
Reversing long-standing US policy, the Trump administration transferred the American embassy on May 14. Guatemala and Paraguay followed suit, though the latter announced last month it would return its embassy to Tel Aviv. Israel considers all of Jerusalem its capital, while the Palestinians see east Jerusalem as the capital of their future state.
Bolsonaro’s first foreign trips as president will be to Israel, the United States and Chile – countries that “share our worldview,” according to the president-elect’s future for chief of staff, Onyx Lorenzoni.
Bolsonaro promised in his victory speech to “change Brazil’s destiny,” and the four days since the election have given a glimpse of the magnitude of the change he has in mind.
He has also made waves on the domestic front, naming the judge who has upended Brazilian politics with a massive corruption investigation, Sergio Moro, to be his justice minister.
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