Brazil's Minister of Justice Flavio Dino gestures during a press conference at the Planalto Palace in Brasilia, Brazil, November 1, 2023.
Dino was responding to a highly unusual statement published on Wednesday in which Israel's Mossad agency thanked Brazilian police and said that, "given the backdrop of the war in Gaza", Hezbollah was continuing to attack Israeli, Jewish and Western targets.
Without explicitly naming Israel, Dino said on X, formerly known as Twitter, that "Brazil is a sovereign country," and "no foreign force orders around the Brazilian Federal Police."
He did not explicitly deny any of the details in the Israeli statement, but seemed more angered by its timing, tone and the link it drew to the current war in Gaza.
Dino's comments may chill relations with the Israeli government as Brazil tries to negotiate a safe exit for around 30 Brazilians still stuck in Gaza.
Persons:
Flavio Dino, Adriano Machado, Dino, Israel, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Gabriel Stargardter, Maytaal Angel, Andrew Heavens
Organizations:
REUTERS, DE, Brazilian, Brazil's Federal Police, Brazilian Federal Police, Thomson
Locations:
Brasilia, Brazil, DE JANEIRO, Israel, Gaza, Bolivia, Colombia, Chile, Iran, Lebanon