At least three of the five justices on the panel voted to convict Bolsonaro, while one found him not guilty.

In March, the country's top court had unanimously decided that Bolsonaro, a prominent figure on Brazil's right wing, would stand trial. At the time, the justices ruled that the 2022 uprising was the result of what they described as a "systematic effort" by Bolsonaro, who lost the election, to undermine confidence in the results and later to overturn them with the help of senior military officers and cabinet members.

Bolsonaro served as president from 2019 to 2022. He was seen as close to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and a strong supporter of Israel. Following his conviction, he now faces a prison sentence of up to 40 years.

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The United States has a Jair Bolsonaro problem.  The far-right former Brazilian president flew to Florida two days before his term ended on Jan. 1, having challenged the Oct. 30 election he lost to leftist rival Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. But Bolsonaro left behind a violent movement of election-denying supporters, who on Sunday stormed Brazil's presidential palace, Congress and Supreme Court.

After watching supporters of former US leader Donald Trump invade the US Capitol two years ago, Democratic President Joe Biden is now facing mounting pressure to remove Bolsonaro from his self-imposed exile in suburban Orlando.

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"Bolsonaro should not be in Florida," Democratic Congressman Joaquin Castro said on CNN. "The United States should not be a refuge for this authoritarian who has inspired domestic terrorism in Brazil. He should be sent back to Brazil." Castro added that Bolsonaro, a Trump acolyte now based in the former president's home state, had "used the Trump playbook to inspire domestic terrorists."

Video: Authorities retake Brazil presidential palace from Bolsonaro supporters / Reuters

Fellow Democratic Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez echoed those views. "The US must cease granting refuge to Bolsonaro in Florida," she tweeted on Sunday. "Nearly two years to the day the US Capitol was attacked by fascists, we see fascist movements abroad attempt to do the same in Brazil."

Big Decision 

Their comments turn up the heat on Bolsonaro, and highlight Washington's big decision about his future.

Bolsonaro had a fractious relationship with Biden, and was already on weaker ground back home in Brazil after losing broad protections from prosecution when he stepped down as president. Those probes could lead to his arrest or prevent him from running for office, Reuters reported last week. John Feeley, who was the US ambassador to Panama from 2016-2018 when the Central American nation sought the extradition of its former President Ricardo Martinelli, said the most immediate threat to Bolsonaro would come if his US visa were revoked. "The United States – or any sovereign nation for that matter - may remove a foreigner, even one who entered legally on a visa, for any reason," Feeley said. "It's a purely sovereign decision for which no legal justification is required."

A US consular official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Bolsonaro had almost certainly entered on an A-1 visa, which are reserved for heads of state. Normally the A-1 is canceled after the recipient leaves office. But with Bolsonaro having left Brazil and entered the United States before his term ended, the official suspected his A-1 is still active. The official, who has experience with the cancellation of visas for former heads of state, said there is no set time limit on how long someone can stay in the United States on an A-1. "We're in uncharted territory," the official said. "Who knows how long he is going to stay?"

A State Department spokesperson said "visa records are confidential under US law; therefore, we cannot discuss the details of individual visa cases."

Baseless Claims

Bolsonaro may be in no hurry to return to Brazil, where he is accused of instigating a violent election denial movement with baseless claims of electoral fraud.Lula, who had already pledged to go after Bolsonaro if needed during his Jan. 1 inauguration speech, on Sunday blamed his predecessor for the invasion."This genocidist ... is encouraging this via social media from Miami," Lula said. "Everybody knows there are various speeches of the ex-president encouraging this."

In a tweet on Sunday, Bolsonaro rejected Lula's accusations and said the invasion had crossed the line of peaceful protest. Bolsonaro was already under investigation in four Supreme Court criminal probes before stepping down as president. In the wake of Sunday's invasion, legal experts said he may find himself the target of a Supreme Court probe, led by crusading Justice Alexandre de Moraes, into anti-democratic protests, which has already yielded several arrests.

If Moraes were to sign an arrest warrant while Bolsonaro is in the United States, the former president would be technically required to fly back to Brazil and hand himself over to police. If he refused, Brazil could issue an Interpol Red Notice to prompt his arrest by US federal agents. If detained on US soil, Brazil would then have to formally seek his extradition. Bolsonaro would be free to appeal in the US courts, or he might attempt to seek asylum, although that offers no guarantee of preventing his eventual return to Brazil.

Former Panamanian President Martinelli was extradited from the United States back to Panama in 2018, three years after Panama's Supreme Court issued its arrest warrant.

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Bolsonaro Jr. spoke during a meeting inaugurating an office of Brazil's APEX-Brasil trade organization in Jerusalem.

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Bolsonaro Jr. said that he had spoken with his father, the president, prior to arriving in Israel, and that "he intends to move the embassy to Jerusalem and … he will do it."

During the meeting, Netanyahu spoke with President Bolsonaro by telephone.

A few months ago, reports said that Brazil had decided not to relocate its embassy in Israel due to opposition to the move in the Brazilian government.

Netanyahu said that the opening of the Brazilian trade office in Jerusalem was part of the "strengthening ties between Israel and Brazil."

"I would like to express my appreciation for President Bolsonaro's stances supporting Israel in international forums. President Bolsonaro changed [Brazilian] policy immediately and said, 'We stand with Israel, we stand by the truth.' We here in Israel stand with Brazil because we stand by the truth, and we support Brazil in any way we can," Netanyahu said.

Bolsonaro Jr. said, "Mr. Benjamin Netanyahu, we will fight terrorism together. If we want to prevent terrorist attacks, we must demonstrate strength. So sooner or later, we [Brazil] will declare Hezbollah a terrorist organization."

Earlier Sunday, Netanyahu warned that if Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah attacked Israel, both Hezbollah and the state of Lebanon would pay a very "heavy price."

Speaking at the weekly cabinet meeting, Netanyahu said, "In recent days we have heard a senior Iranian Revolutionary Guard commander again threaten that Iran will destroy Tel Aviv from Lebanon. He thus reveals a simple truth: Hezbollah is simply Iran's arm in Lebanon against Israel.

"Even though Nasrallah immediately denied the senior Iranian commander's remarks, I would like to make it clear that if Nasrallah dares to attack Israel, the organization and the Lebanese state that enable aggression from its territory against us will pay a very heavy price," Netanyahu continued.

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At least 34 people have been confirmed killed. Some 250 people were still missing as of Sunday, according to the Minas Gerais fire department.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke with Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on Saturday and offered to send an Israeli team to help locate the missing. Bolsonaro thanked him and accepted the offer. The two leaders agreed that the Israeli team would leave within 24 hours.

The IDF Homefront Command announced Saturday that it was organizing the search and rescue mission.

Frantic family members of the missing crowded into a warehouse set up by Vale for those affected, next to a stretch of river erased by the sludge. More than a dozen helicopters helping to survey the area took off and landed from a soccer field nearby.

"Unfortunately, at this point, the chances of finding survivors are minimal. We're likely to just be recovering bodies," Romeu Zema, governor of Minas Gerais, told local media.

During a news conference, Zema said the mining complex had all its permits in order and it was unclear what caused the collapse of the dam, which had been inactive for years.

German auditor TUV SUD said on Saturday it had inspected the tailings dam last September and found it to be operating well.

Vale Chief Executive Fabio Schvartsman said there had not been any recent construction around the dam and apologized without taking responsibility in a television interview.

"Apologies to society, apologies to you, apologies to the whole world for what has happened," he said. "I don't know who is responsible, but you can be sure we'll do our part."

Some analysts saw the latest dam burst creating resistance to Bolsonaro's plans to ease restrictions on mining, making investors already wary of Brazil's mining sector even more hesitant.

Bolsonaro came to Minas Gerais and flew over the disaster area on Saturday morning, leaving town without attending a planned news conference. He dispatched three ministers to the scene who addressed reporters along with Zema.

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