BRASILIA (Middle East Eye) – Brazil’s foreign minister has fired the country’s ambassador to the Israeli-occupied territories amid a wider shake-up after former president Jair Bolsonaro lost his reelection.
The removal of Gerson Menandro Garcia de Freitas, who was appointed as Brazil’s envoy to the occupied territories by Bolsonaro in 2020, was announced by the country’s foreign ministry in a statement published earlier this week.
The decision comes as the new government, led by leftist Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, also known as Lula, has vowed to “resume its traditional and balanced stance kept for over seven decades” on the occupying regime and Palestine.
The Palestinian foreign minister, Riyad al-Maliki, was present at Lula’s inauguration. However, on his return, the Zionist regime banned him from leaving the occupied Palestinian territories.
Meanwhile, the U.S. this week confirmed the appointment of Elizabeth Frawley Bagley as ambassador to Brazil, filling a more than year-long vacancy. Pro-Zionist groups have expressed their anger over her appointment after revealing she made comments stating, “There is always the influence of the Jewish lobby because there is major money involved.”
After entering office in 2018, Bolsonaro pledged to reverse decades of Brazilian foreign policy concerning the Zionist-Palestinian conflict.
In 2019, he announced plans to move the country’s embassy to Al-Quds and recognized the occupying regime’s claim over the city. While he later backtracked on the embassy move, he did open a trade mission in Al-Quds, triggering anger among Palestinians.
During his time in office, Bolsonaro had appointed de Freitas - a retired general - as ambassador to the occupied territories, with the goal of boosting military ties with the regime, according to Axios.
The appointment was part of his policy shift to move Brazil closer to the regime, and Bolsonaro himself had a close relationship with Zionist prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.