Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi met his Brazilian counterpart, Ernesto Araujo, in Jerusalem on Sunday and thanked his country for its "steadfast position against the International Criminal Court's decision to launch a [war crimes] probe" against the Jewish state.
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"It is a decision that harms international law and distances the possibility to advance negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians," Ashkenazi stressed at the meeting.
Last week, ICC senior prosecutor Fatou Bensouda announced she had opened a formal probe into alleged war crimes in the Palestinian territories, consisting of the West Bank (Judea and Samaria), east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip.
The decision resulted in a considerable backlash in Israel, with officials urging allies around the world to exert diplomatic pressure against the ICC.
Araujo and Ashkenazi further discussed Middle East developments, with the Israeli minister citing landmark changes that have taken place after four Arab nations – the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco – signed the Abraham Accords.
Ashkenazi warned of increasing Iranian efforts in recent days to destabilize the region.
"We clearly identify Iran's fingerprints in recent attempts to harm Israeli targets around the world. The international community must ensure that Iran ceases its efforts to reach the threshold for military nuclear technology and fulfills its commitments to the last detail," he asserted.
The delegation, which also included chair of the Congress Foreign Affairs Committee Eduardo Bolsonaro – the son of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro – was allowed into the country without having to undergo quarantine, despite a general ban on foreign citizens entering Israel and the threat of a Brazilian COVID-19 variant.
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After meeting Araujo, Ashkenazi said the sides were "working together to expand cooperation between our countries in the fight against the virus." He said Israel "will assist Brazil in every way possible and will also explore ways to deepen research and development on medicines and other solutions to deal with the virus."
This article was first published by i24NEWS.
