On Wednesday, November 8th, Brazilian Federal Police carried out raids in São Paulo and the Federal District which resulted in two arrests. A Brazilian official anonymously confirmed to the Associated Press that the two suspects were recruited and financed by Hezbollah. Following these arrests, the Prime Minister of Israel’s Twitter account released a statement congratulating the efforts of the Brazilian security services with the assistance of Mossad. In response, Brazilian Minister of Justice and Public Security Flavio Dino rebuked the Prime Minister’s comments while reiterating Brazilian national sovereignty and judicial independence.
The official account of Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tweeted: “The Brazilian security services, together with the Mossad […] foiled a terrorist attack in Brazil, planned by the Hezbollah terrorist organization, directed and financed by Iran”. The following day, Minister Dino published a scathing, multi-paragraph tweet responding to the Prime Minister’s comments. His statement included a critique of Israel using Brazil in their public relations campaign, writing: “We appreciate appropriate international cooperation, but we reject any foreign authority considering directing Brazilian police bodies or using investigations that we are responsible for, for the purposes of promoting their political interests.” Minister Dino later made a televised statement in Portuguese, according to Brazillian outlet GloboNews: “Each and every country that is a source of information must respect Brazilian sovereignty. No one who cooperates with us can claim to replace Brazilian institutions.”
The conflict in Gaza has pressured Israel to conduct soft-power operations in a multi-domain strategy. Painting pro-Palestinian protests as antisemitic serves the same end as Mossad taking credit for disrupting Hezbollah operations in Brazil. Both actions advance the Israeli narrative that the global community is behind their operations in Gaza and push against the growing grassroots support for an internationally mandated ceasefire. Prime Minister Netanyahu is using this Brazilian operation to increase his public image and create the impression that Mossad is an internationally respected organization. By leveraging the sovereignty of Brazil, Israel has shown its desperation to regain credibility. By inserting itself inside the domestic operation of a non-aligned nation, Mossad pushes other non-aligned nations away from supporting Israel. This exchange will likely increase calls for a ceasefire throughout the world. It is only a matter of time before Israel loses the United States’ support for unrestrained military action in the Gaza Strip; Israel’s most valuable resource, at this stage, is public opinion in the West.
Tensions between Israel and Brazil have been growing since Brazil authored a ceasefire proposal at the United Nations which was rejected by Israel’s strongest ally, the United States. Brazil has sought neutrality in the ongoing Israel-Gaza conflict as the conflict risks expanding to Israel’s northern border with Lebanon. Brazil has an interest in the Levant as it is home to a large Lebanese diasporic community, nearly outnumbering the population of Lebanon, according to the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. These tensions follow Brazil’s attempt earlier this year at mediation in the Ukraine-Russian War that has inflamed relations between Brazil and the United States.
In conclusion, the tensions between Brazil and Israel result from the power of public opinion and the vulnerability of democratic nations to outcry. Indirectly, Israel’s attempt at improving its perception by the international community proves the effectiveness of public opinion. Without the pressure from protests in major cities such as London and Washington D.C., it is unlikely Israel would temper its military strikes in Gaza City or be compelled to justify its military objectives in the exclave. These tensions demonstrate Israel’s desperation to regain positive public opinion as operations in Gaza continue to generate global outrage.
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