The Brazilian president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, supports Iran's right to develop nuclear energy, a program that concerns Israel and other nations because of suspicions it is a cover for weapons development.
The Brazilian leader has also rejected sanctions on Iran, which he sees as a key partner in the sort of trade alliances that can reduce the developing world's economic reliance on powerful nations like the US Israel considers Iran a strategic threat because of its nuclear program, long-range missiles and references by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to Israel's destruction.
Silva described his visit to Israel Monday — the first ever for a sitting president of Brazil and part of a Middle East tour that will include stops in the West Bank and Jordan — as “a mission of peace” that he hoped would help his country emerge as a bigger player in foreign affairs.
Israeli President Shimon Peres welcomed whatever contributions Silva could make in promoting regional peace Monday, but a diplomatic role for Brazil was not discussed.
Israeli media reported that Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman boycotted the visit because Silva refused to visit the grave of Theodor Herzl, the founder of modern Zionism. Foreign Ministry officials refused to comment.
Brazil is already a global powerhouse, which experts predict will be the world's fifth-largest economy in a few years. But efforts to expand its portfolio into politics could be hamstrung by Brazil's continued solidarity with Iran, a position that has sparked concerns in both Israel and the US Differences over Iran have not kept Israel and Brazil from forming closer economic alliances. Silva informed Peres Monday that Israel has been approved as the first non-South American partner in the free trade agreement Mercosur.
Brazil is Israel's largest trading partner in Latin America, and Brazil-Iran trade has also grown by 40 percent during Silva's presidency.
Silva has also defended Iran's nuclear ambitions, objecting to the policing of nations with ambitions to develop their nuclear energy capacity — including Brazil.
At the same time, Silva has criticized Ahmadinejad for his denial of the Holocaust. When he visits Iran in May, Silva will become the sixth head of state to visit Ahmadinejad since his disputed re-election last year, and the only one whose country has full diplomatic ties with Israel.
