Jews rename Israeli Minister and explain why Lula is not anti -Semitic

Israel Katz also accused Brazilian of being Iranian puppet; Itamaraty called ‘unacceptable untruths’ speeches

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (PT) is not anti-Semitic as accused Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz, on Tuesday (26) in offensive post. This is the opinion of progressive Jews heard by Brazil, who say the politician falsely accuses others of anti -Semitism in an attempt to justify the crimes committed by his country in the Gaza Strip.

“In all the statements that Lula has made in relation to Israeli genocide in Gaza, he has always maintained a criticism within the legitimate, which does not incur any form of anti -Semitism,” said Bruno Huberman, professor of International Relations at the Pontifical Catholic University (PUC) of São Paulo.

“At no time does the president seek to generalize the actions of the State of Israel in relation to the Jews, a particular Jew, the Jews in general. So I do not see President Lula being anti -Semitic under any circumstances,” he adds.

Katz posted – in Portuguese – offenses against the Brazilian president, calling him “declared anti -Semitic”, “supporter of Hamas” and an image in which Lula would be a puppet led by the Iranian leader, Ali Khamenei. The Israeli criticizes the Brazilian government for leaving the International Holocaust Memory Alliance (IHRA), an international entity to which the country had entered 2021, under the management of Jair Bolsonaro.

Educator Iara Haasz, who makes up the anti -joint collective Jewish voices for liberation refutes the logic used by Katz. “I am Jewish and I refuse to accept the idea that being against IHRA’s definition is to be anti -Semitic. This definition has been used to silence legitimate criticism of Israel and transform solidarity to Palestinians into a hate crime.”

“It is absurd to accuse Lula of Anti -Semitism by removing Brazil from this trap. He did not attacked Jews, only reaffirmed that criticizing policies of a state is not the same as hating a people. Using our historic pain to shield a government that commits violations is a perversion of the memory of the holocaust,” he points out.

Also from Jewish Voices for Liberation, Shajar Goldwaser cites the existence of numerous institutions in Brazil, dedicated to the memory of the Holocaust, including outside the academic circuit, which “illustrates how Brazil would be ‘alongside those who deny the Holocaust’ is completely disliked.”

Goldwaser also recalls that Lula was responsible for advocating and approving the free trade treaty between Israel and Mercosur in 2007 “and in his speeches, despite denouncing genocide, Lula never questioned the legitimacy of the existence of the state of Israel.”

“Associating Lula with an alleged international conspiracy that would aim to destroy Israel is a way to prevent the possibility of a dialogue. It is inserting the president in a friendly or enemy logic, in a context where pro-Bolsonaro manifestations have taken thousands of Israeli flags to the streets, assuming that they represent their political project,” he says.

“It is inevitable not to see this episode as a strategy of pressure within a dispute over Bolsonaro’s likely arrest, and narrative that Lula and his government would be a supposed ‘left dictatorship’. This should draw our attention to even more awareness of how the far right has been articulated with foreign nations (US and Israel) to interfere with the direction of our national political trajectory,” he adds.

Definition that makes complicit

Like Iara Haasz, Shajar Goldwaser states that Ihra’s definition of anti-Semitism does not protect Jews, making them more vulnerable.

“The fact that this definition is used as a way of curtailing freedom of expression and academic freedom, and biasing the mainstream media, only reinforces the idea that the Jews of the world would be complicit of the systematic crimes of war that Israel commit. Therefore, it is crucial that many Jews around the world have been joined to denounce the instrumentalization of our own security and the right to profess our cults and traditions Maintenance of genocide and attacks on freedom of expression attacks, ”he says.

For him, the departure of Brazil from Ihra, announced by Lula in July, is not only correct, but also challenges hegemony about the definition of anti -Semitism “that is not lending to any form of racial, class or gender discrimination.”

Goldwaser also recalls that trade between the two countries has recently grown: “an increase from 50% from 2023 to 2024.”

“What the minister is clearly doing is attacking Lula for something he has not done, and trying to associate him with an alleged ‘evil axis’ as a way of trying to interfere with his recent popularity.

Government response

Hours after Israeli’s publication, Itamaraty published in its networks that “Israeli Defense Minister and former Chancellor, Israel Katz, again gave unacceptable offenses, untruth and rudeness against Brazil and President Lula.”

“Mr. Katz is expected, instead of usual lies and aggressions, who takes responsibility and finds the truth about yesterday’s attack [segunda-feira] Against the Nasser Hospital in Gaza, which caused the deaths of at least 20 Palestinians, including patients, journalists and humanitarian workers. ”

“Israeli military operations in Gaza have already resulted in the deaths of 62,744 Palestinians, of which a third are women and children, and in a policy of hunger as a weapon of war imposed on the Palestinian population.”

Originally published by Brazil de Fato on 08/26/2025

By Rodrigo Durão Coelho – São Paulo (SP)

Edition: Maria Teresa Cruz