Lula's Re-election Halts Brazil's Pivot Toward Israel

Luiz Inácio da Silva holds the Brazilian presidency once again.

The Workers Party leader secured 51.79% of the valid votes in the election held on Oct. 25, 2026. His opponent, center-right senator Flavio Bolsonaro of the Liberal Party, received 48.21%. Bolsonaro stated that he did not accept the results, although the mechanism for a formal challenge remains unclear. The outcome stops a regional trend in which several Latin American governments have moved closer to Israel since 2023.

Lula’s administration has maintained a critical position regarding the military campaign in Gaza. In January 2024, his government endorsed South Africa’s genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice. In February 2024, Lula compared the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza to the Holocaust. That remark sparked a diplomatic crisis between the two nations. CONIB, the Jewish umbrella organization in Brazil, condemned the comparison as a distortion that offended the memory of Holocaust victims and their descendants. The Holocaust Museum of Buenos Aires also criticized the remarks.

Flavio Bolsonaro had pledged a diplomatic shift during his campaign. On June 28, 2026, he met with Jewish leaders in Buenos Aires. He announced that Brazil would appoint an ambassador to Israel in 2027. He further stated that the country would move its embassy to Jerusalem. Bolsonaro praised the 120,000 Jews in Brazil, describing them as among the brightest in medicine, industry, science, culture, and business.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reacted to the first-round results on Oct. 5, 2026. Bolsonaro had finished ahead of Lula in the Oct. 4 vote. Netanyahu posted a message on X/Twitter congratulating the senator. He wrote that he looked forward to restoring the friendship between the two nations. He wished Bolsonaro victory in the final round.

The election result leaves Brazil out of step with several neighboring countries that have strengthened ties with Israel. Argentine President Javier Milei makes support for Israel central to his foreign policy. He meets with families of hostages taken in the Oct. 7, 2023, raid. Bolivian President Rodrigo Paz Pereira restored diplomatic relations in 2025. Honduran President Nasry Asfura formally recognized Israel’s new ambassador upon taking office in 2025. Chilean President José Antonio Kast is rebuilding ties that were diminished by his predecessor. Colombian President Abelardo de la Espriella restored diplomatic ties in 2025. He sent his foreign minister to inaugurate an embassy in Jerusalem and withdrew from the ICJ genocide case against Israel.