Foreign Minister Israel Katz said Monday that Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was not welcome in Israel until he takes back his comments likening Israel's war against Hamas terrorists in Gaza to the Nazi genocide during World War II.
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"The comparison between Israel's just war against Hamas, and the atrocities of Hitler and the Nazis, is a shame and disgrace and a serious antisemitic attack," Katz told Brazil's Ambassador to Israel Federico Mayer, according to a statement from his office.
Video: Katz and Mayer at Yad Vashem / Credit: Niv Muzman and Michael Dimenstein/GPO
The envoy was summoned following Lula's remarks that Israel said trivialized the Holocaust and caused offence to Jews.
"We will not forget nor forgive. It is a serious antisemitic attack. In my name and the name of the citizens of Israel – tell President Lula that he is persona non grata in Israel until he takes it back," Katz said.
The meeting took place at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Remembrance Center.
"I brought you to a place that testifies more than anything else to what the Nazis and Hitler did to the Jews, including my family members," the foreign minister explained.
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