Lula’s re-election puts the brakes on Latin America’s pro-Israel shift

JTA – BUENOS AIRES – Brazilians elected Luiz Inácio “Lula” da Silva as president again, defeating the centre-right senator Flavio Bolsonaro and putting the brakes on a regional shift towards closer ties with Israel. 

The current president, a left-wing leader of Partido dos Trabalhadores (Workers’ Party), obtained 51.79% of the valid votes, while Bolsonaro received 48.21%. 

Bolsonaro, of the Liberal Party, had pledged a close diplomatic partnership with Israel and cultivated ties with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, while Lula has become a critic of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza. Bolsonaro said he did not accept the election results, although it is not clear how he could challenge them. 

In January 2024, Lula’s government endorsed South Africa’s decision to bring a “genocide” case against Israel before the International Court of Justice (ICJ). A month later, Lula compared Palestinian suffering in Gaza to Hitler’s murder of the Jews, triggering a diplomatic crisis between Brazil and Israel. Brazil’s Jewish umbrella organisation, CONIB, publicly condemned the comparison as a distortion that offended the memory of Holocaust victims and their descendants. 

The remarks were also criticised by the Holocaust Museum of Buenos Aires. Senator Bolsonaro promised a big shift towards Israel when he spoke on 28 June 2026 in Buenos Aires in a meeting with Jewish leaders. “In 2027, Brazil will not only once again have an ambassador to Israel, but will also take the step of moving its embassy to Israel’s capital, Jerusalem,” he said. 

That night he also lauded the 120 000 Jews in Brazil, saying, “They are men and women who rank among the brightest in Brazilian medicine, industry, science, culture, and business.” 

After Bolsonaro finished ahead of Lula in the first round on 4 October, Netanyahu sent a message on X, “Congratulations @FlavioBolsonaro on yesterday’s vote and good luck in the final. I look forward to restoring the extraordinary friendship between Israel and Brazil. Best wishes for your great victory, my friend.” 

Since 2023, several Latin American countries have strengthened ties with Israel, in some cases reversing policies adopted by their predecessors. 

Argentinean President Javier Milei, elected in 2023, made support for Israel central to his foreign policy and met with families of hostages Hamas abducted in its deadly 7 October raid on Israel, which launched the current war. 

Bolivian President Rodrigo Paz Pereira, elected in 2025, restored diplomatic relations with Israel severed by his predecessor, while President Nasry Asfura of Honduras, also elected in 2025, immediately formally recognised Israel’s new ambassador, a process his predecessor left in limbo. 

Chilean President José Antonio Kast, elected in 2025, is rebuilding ties with Israel diminished by his predecessor; and Colombian President Abelardo de la Espriella, elected in May, restored diplomatic ties with Israel, sent his foreign minister to inaugurate an embassy in Jerusalem, and pulled out of the ICJ “genocide” case against Israel.