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<\/a>Jair Bolsonaro, newly president of Brazil on 21 June 2016. \u201cIs Palestine a country? Palestine is not a country, so there should be no embassy here,\u201d said Jair Bolsonaro, who won the national election on Sunday with 55.1 per cent of the votes.<\/p>\n The right-wing political outsider, who has been portrayed in the West as a far-right nationalist with authoritarian tendencies and fascist inclinations, demonstrated his intent to win the hearts of Israelis. Denouncing the Palestinians he said: \u201cWe do not negotiate with terrorists.\u201d<\/p>\n If reports of the former army captain\u2019s intent to close the embassy are true, Bolsonaro will reverse Brazil\u2019s position on Palestine since 2010 when the government of Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, recognised a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders, despite strong disapproval from the Israeli government.<\/p>\n Bolsonaro has expressed his intention of a dramatic you-turn in Brazil\u2019s policy in the Middle East to reflect the wishes of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He said he wants to recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and his opposition to Palestinian statehood is said to stretch back as far as the 1990s.<\/p>\n Read:\u00a0BRICS contributes to Palestine\u2019s oppression through the two-state compromise<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n While Bolsonaro\u2019s election victory has been met with trepidation in Europe, Israeli leaders have hailed his victory. \u201cI am certain that your election will lead to a great friendship between our nations and to a strengthening of Israel-Brazil ties,\u201d Netanyahu told Bolsonaro during a congratulatory phone call, according to readout reported by the Times of Israel<\/em> from his office on Monday evening.<\/p>\n \u201cLooking forward to your visit in Israel,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n Members of the Israeli Knesset also congratulated Bolsonaro saying: \u201cWarm greetings to my friend Jair Bolsonaro for his election to the presidency of Brazil,\u201d Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein said in a statement published on Monday morning. The Likud politician added: \u201cBolsonaro is a true friend of the State of Israel and during his visit to the Knesset two years ago, he told me a lot about his activities for us in Brazil. We look forward to your visit to Israel and wish you all the best.\u201d<\/p>\n In stark contrast to Israeli politicians who are celebrating the victory of Bolsonaro, his fascistic tendencies and misogyny have become a cause of alarm in the West. \u00a0Speaking about his country\u2019s 900,000-strong indigenous people he said: \u201cIt\u2019s a shame that the Brazilian cavalry wasn\u2019t as efficient as the Americans, who exterminated their Indians.\u201d<\/p>\n
[F\u00e1bio Rodrigues Pozzebom\/Ag\u00eancia Brasil]<\/p><\/div>1 Nov 2018 – <\/em>President-elect of Brazil plans to close the Palestinian embassy in Brazil, Jewish News Syndicate<\/em> reported.<\/p>\n