The Brazilian president said he would move the embassy before and after he was elected, but backed down from the promise earlier this year.
LAHAV HARKOV
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro will move his country’s embassy to Jerusalem, his son, MP Eduardo Bolsonaro said Sunday at the opening of a Brazilian trade mission in the capital.
“As my father says, the Brazilian Embassy will move to Jerusalem. It’s not something extraordinary. It’s supposed to be a natural and normal thing,” Bolsonaro, an enthusiastic supporter of Israel, said.
The Brazilian president said he would move the embassy before and after he was elected, but backed down from the promise earlier this year.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed appreciation for Brazil opening its trade office in Jerusalem, saying “we have no better friends than the people and government of Brazil.”
Netanyahu spoke at the opening of a trade office for Apex-Brasil, the Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency, in Jerusalem. Apex-Brasil operates under the Brasilia’s foreign ministry, but does not have diplomatic status.
Brazilian media has said that the move is a political one, to appeal to the government’s religious Christian base, but stops short of harming relations with Arab states, which have much more trade with Brazil than Israel. Only 0.17% of Brazil’s exports go to Israel, as opposed to 4.8% to Arab League countries.
The office opening is part of Netanyahu and the Foreign Ministry’s concerted effort to have countries recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and move offices and embassies there.
The US and Guatemala have embassies in Jerusalem and Honduras is expected to move its embassy to Jerusalem in the coming weeks, according to an Israeli diplomatic source. Honduras, Hungary, Australia and the Czech Republic have trade offices in the capital, and Slovakia and Ukraine are expected to open offices.
The elder Bolsonaro mentioned the Apex-Brasil office opening at an event on Friday, saying: “My son Eduardo is in Jerusalem with Benjamin Netanyahu. We are opening an Apex business office in Jerusalem. We believe in God and are looking for the best for the country.”
Earlier this month, he said he still would like to move the embassy: “It is only symbolic, but it is worth a lot to those who believe in God.”
The Apex-Brasil office in Jerusalem will be managed by Camila Torres Meyer, a trade analyst at the export institute for the past 12 years, and it will have two local employees.
Content retrieved from: https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Brazil-will-move-embassy-to-Jerusalem-presidents-son-says-610997?fbclid=IwAR0nfi0_u8LPLjtmH2ROZLACRyrYL23uMChPjw_4rXYCYKFoIaNsW2ha_20.