JERUSALEM - Brazil opened a new trade mission to Israel in Jerusalem on Sunday, edging back from earlier signals it would follow the United States with a full embassy move to the contested city.
The announcement came during a visit by Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, an outspoken admirer of President Donald Trump, who broke global consensus by recognising Jerusalem as Israel’s capital in late 2017 and moving the U.S. embassy there last May.
Bolsonaro had suggested in January he would follow suit. That could have been a boost for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who hopes to win a fifth term in an election next week.
But Brazilian senior officials later backed away from the idea, for fear of damaging trade ties with Arab countries.
“Brazil decided to create an office in Jerusalem to promote trade, investment, technology and innovation as a part of its embassy in Israel,” the Foreign Ministry in Brasilia said in a statement.
Like most countries, Brazil has an embassy in Tel Aviv.
“I hope, and I would like to believe, that this (office) is the first step toward the opening of the Brazilian embassy in Jerusalem, when the time comes,” Netanyahu told reporters.
Bolsonaro offered no public comment on the embassy plans. His son Eduardo, a Brazilian federal lawmaker, said it took the Trump administration several months to implement the U.S. embassy move. “We are on the right path,” he tweeted.(FA)