Israel declared Brazilian President Lula da Silva “persona non grata”.

Israel declared Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva “persona non grata” after he likened the Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip to a genocide comparable to the Holocaust.

This morning, I summoned the Brazilian ambassador to Israel to the Holocaust Museum, the place that attests more than anything else to what the Nazis and Hitler did to the Jews, including members of my family,” reported Israeli Foreign Minister, Israel Katz.

“What is happening in the Gaza Strip is not a war, it is a genocide,” declared the President of Brazil to the press on Sunday. He stated that something similar to “a war between a highly prepared army and women and children” had not occurred before in history, except “when Hitler decided to kill the Jews.”

The comments made by the Brazilian president are shameful and severe,” stated the Israeli Foreign Minister today on social media platform X, emphasizing that “no one will harm Israel’s right to defend itself.”

In a statement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu characterized Lula’s words as “shameful and grave,” arguing that they aim to “trivialize the Holocaust” and “Israel’s right to defend itself.”

“Comparing Israel to the Nazi Holocaust and Hitler crosses a red line. Israel fights for its defense and to secure its future until total victory, and it does so while respecting international law,” Netanyahu said in a statement released by his office.

The statements made this Sunday are the most emphatic ones issued so far regarding the conflict by Lula, a significant representative of the Global South countries, and who holds the rotating presidency of the G20.