By Lise Alves, Senior Contributing Reporter
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Brazil’s President, Jair Bolsonaro announced the country will be opening up a commercial representation office in Jerusalem.
With the announcement, Bolsonaro, who is on an official visit to Israel, frustrated both Israeli officials, who had hoped the Brazilian leader would keep his campaign promise and move the country’s embassy and generated negative reaction from Palestine.
Alongside the country’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Bolsonaro said that the office will be responsible for the areas of science, technology and innovation and business.
“We have to exploit this potential,” said Bolsonaro, adding that the ‘marriage’ between the two nation ‘will bring many benefits to our peoples’.
“Brazil is a very big country, a very rich country. We have very little time for our development, so we are increasingly approaching countries that are aligned with us,” said the Brazilian leader.
Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, noted the importance of the representation but said this was only a first step towards the transfer of the Brazilian Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
“I hope, one day, that the Embassy of Brazil will arrive in Jerusalem,” said the Israeli prime minister.
The announcement, however, is bound to frustrate many Bolsonaro voters, who wanted the newly-elected president to keep his campaign promise and move the Brazilian embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. For political analysts, the President’s promise brought him more problems than benefits.
“Bolsonaro’s campaign promise about moving the Brazilian embassy in Israel to Jerusalem created a totally unnecessary dilemma for him. He could have deepened ties to Israel without ever bringing up the embassy issue. Now he has to disappoint constituencies, no matter what he does,” commented Oliver Stuenkel, professor of International Relations at Fundação Getulio Vargas (FVG) in his Twitter account.
Officials in Palestine, already critical of the possible embassy move condemned the announcement of the creation of the representation office in Jerusalem and has called back its ambassador in Brasilia for consultation for ambassador.
Palestine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs considers the Brazilian decision ‘a brazen violation of legitimacy and international resolutions’.
Nonetheless, on Sunday, the two leaders signed agreements in the areas of defense, air services, prevention and combat of organized crime, science and technology and a memorandum of understanding on cyber security.
Among the five accords President Bolsonaro highlighted a partnership in the area of aquaculture (fish farming activity).
“We want to make Brazil also develop in this area of fish farming. Thank you for accepting the proposal [presented by the Brazilian government], “said the president.
During his trip Bolsonaro is also expected to personally thank the Israeli brigade helped in the search of victims in Brumadinho (MG), after the break of the dam, owned by mining giant, Vale. The Mina do Feijão Dam burst in late January killing at least 217 people and 87 persons still missing.
A team of 136 Israeli military personnel spent days in the region, working with Brazilian rescue personnel in the searches.