Brazil’s President-elect Jair Bolsonaro has reaffirmed his commitment to move his country’s embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, saying no other country has the right to tell Israel where its capital should be.
The controversial right-wing politician, who swept to power in Sunday’s presidential runoff, had vowed to move the embassy during the election campaign, but confirmed in an interview with an Israeli newspaper on Thursday that he would proceed with the move once he's taken office.
“When I was asked during the campaign if I'd do it when I became president, I said 'yes, the one who decides on the capital of Israel is you, not other nations',” Bolsonaro told the Israeli Hayom newspaper.
Bolsonaro also suggested that he would close the Palestinian Embassy in Brasilia, saying the diplomatic building was built too close to Bolsonaro’s future residence.
“No embassy can be so close to the presidential palace, so we intend to move it.”
He went on to question Palestinians' right to even possess a diplomatic mission, telling the paper: "Palestine first needs to be a state to have the right to an embassy."
Palestine had been previously recognized as a state by Brazil’s government under Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. However, Lula’s Workers Party candidate, Fernando Haddad, was beaten by Bolsonaro in Sunday’s poll.
If Brazil goes ahead with the embassy move, it would be only the second major nation to contravene international norms moving their embassy to Jerusalem, after the United States.
In December 2017, US President Donald Trump said Washington would officially recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, and ordered the State Department to begin planning for the relocation of the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
The US embassy was officially moved on May 14, with Guatemala and Paraguay saying they also would follow suit. However, the latter subsequently said it would move its mission back to Tel Aviv.
While Israel claims all of Jerusalem as its united capital, Palestinians hope that annexed East Jerusalem will be the capital of their future state.
As a result, the remaining members of the international community do not recognize Israel's jurisdiction and ownership of the city, choosing instead to locate their diplomatic missions to Israel in Tel Aviv.
Brazil’s president-elect Jair Bolsonaro confirmed on Twitter Thursday that he intends to move his country’s embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
“As previously stated during our campaign, we intend to transfer the Brazilian Embassy from Tel-Aviv to Jerusalem,” Bolsonaro wrote on Twitter. “Israel is a sovereign state and we shall duly respect that.”
Bolsonaro’s public statement confirmed his comments to Hebrew newspaper Israel Hayom on Thursday. “When I was asked during the campaign if I’d do it when I became president, I said, ‘Yes, the one who decides on the capital of Israel is you, not other nations,'” he told the paper, which is a firm backer of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Netanyahu enthusiastically welcomed the announcement on Thursday, saying in a statement, “I congratulate my friend, the president-elect of Brazil Jair Bolsonaro, for his intention to move the Brazilian embassy to Jerusalem. This is a historic, correct and moving step.”
Israel considers the entire city its capital, while the Palestinians see East Jerusalem as the capital of their future state, with much of the international community viewing the status of the city as a subject for negotiations between the sides.
The embassy move squarely aligns Bolsonaro with US President Donald Trump, and bolsters his image as a “Tropical Trump.”
Israel captured East Jerusalem from Jordan in the 1967 Six Day War and later annexed it in a move not recognized by the international community.
In December, US President Donald Trump reversed longstanding policy and recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, prompting Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to boycott his administration.
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