Bolsonaro meets with Netanyahu before inauguration

Brazil’s President-Elect Bolsonaro is meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for a lunch at the Forte de Copacabana, in southern Rio de Janeiro next Friday (Dec. 28), one day before Bolsonaro and his family move to Brasília.

Netanyahu is not expected to attend Bolsonaro’s inauguration ceremony in Brasília on January 1. The Israeli prime minister is returning early to Israel, after a decision by his country’s Parliament to hold its general elections on April 9, earlier than originally scheduled.

After a lunch with Bolsonaro, Netanyahu should take part in the religious ceremony known as Shabat, at the Kehilat Yaacov synagogue, in Copacabana. He will also participate in a press conference on Sunday (30).

Embassy

Bolsonaro plans to relocate the Brazilian Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv, the country’s administrative capital, to Jerusalem. The decision sparked controversy, but the president-elect seemed resolute in his plan to make the decision materialize.

The city of Jerusalem is the center of controversies and conflicts between Palestinians and Israelis, as both claim the place as sacred. In the efforts to prevent the situation from aggravating, the countries consider Tel Aviv as Israel’s administrative capital, where international diplomatic representations are located.

*Vitor Abdala contributed to this article from Rio de Janeiro.