The governor of São Paulo, Tarcísio de Freitas (Republicans)one of the names considered as a potential candidate for President of the Republic in the 2026 elections, accepted an invitation from the Israeli government and will travel to the country on March 18th.
The invitation to Tarcísio was made directly by the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahuwith whom the president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) was involved in a recent diplomatic clash over Israel’s military action in the Gaza Strip.
According to information published by the newspaper Folha de S.Paulo, other governors were also summoned by “Bibi” Netanyahu. The one from Goiás, Ronaldo Caiano (União Brasil), another “presidential candidate” for 2026, has already accepted the invitation. Cláudio Castro (PL), from Rio de Janeiro, has not yet responded.
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Also speculated as a candidate for Palácio do Planalto in 2026, the governor of Minas Gerais, Romeu Zema (Novo), declined the invitation.
Netanyahu also sent a personal letter to the former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL) for the former president to travel to Israel. Aligned politically and ideologically, both maintained a close relationship during Bolsonaro’s government (2019-2022).
The chances of the former president traveling to Israel, however, are remote. Bolsonaro had his passport seized by order of Minister Alexandre de Moraes, of the Federal Supreme Court (STF), as part of Operation Tempus Veritatus, launched by the Federal Police (PF) in early February, which is investigating an alleged attempted coup d’état in the Brazil. To leave the country, Bolsonaro needs authorization from the STF.
Diplomatic crisis
Last month, the Brazilian government led a diplomatic clash with Israel. In an interview with journalists in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, the President of the Republic compared Israel’s military actions against Hamas in the Gaza Strip to the Holocaust of Adolf Hitler’s Nazi Germany, when the Jewish people were persecuted and decimated.
On the same day as Lula’s statement, Netanyahu stated that the president of Brazil had crossed “a red line” in a “shameful and serious” way. “This is about trivializing the Holocaust and trying to harm the Jewish people and Israel’s right to defend itself,” criticized Netanyahu.
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz went further: he announced that Lula had become “persona non grata in Israel until he takes back what he said.”
Lula did not retract, and the Brazilian government decided to call the ambassador to Israel, Frederico Meyer, for consultations and summon the Israeli ambassador to Brazil, Daniel Zonshine, to give explanations. According to Itamaraty, the measures were taken “in view of the seriousness of the statements made by the Israeli government”.
The Holocaust, promoted by the Nazis in World War II, killed 6 million Jews.
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