Netanyahu’s endorsement puts Brazil-Israel ties at the heart of Bolsonaro runoff

Netanyahu’s endorsement puts Brazil-Israel ties at the heart of Bolsonaro runoff
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has congratulated Brazilian senator Flávio Bolsonaro on his first-round presidential result and voiced support for his runoff campaign, placing a possible reset in Brazil-Israel relations at the center of the message.

Netanyahu said he was “looking forward to restoring the extraordinary friendship between Israel and Brazil” and wished Bolsonaro “a great victory.” The endorsement followed the first-round vote, in which the article reported Bolsonaro received 47.03% of valid votes to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s 45.16%, sending the contest to an October 25 runoff.

For Bolsonaro and allies on Brazil’s political right, the overture fits an existing alignment with Israel. He had pledged to make an official visit to Israel early in a potential administration, mirroring a 2019 trip by his father, former president Jair Bolsonaro. The same report said Brazilian voters in Israel backed Flávio Bolsonaro heavily, giving him 523 votes, or 74.29%, compared with Lula’s 92.

The Brazilian left-leaning outlets covering the endorsement emphasized the controversy surrounding Netanyahu’s intervention and framed it against the Israeli government’s conduct in Gaza. That reading sharply differs from Netanyahu’s own portrayal of the message as an appeal to revive a longstanding bilateral friendship.

Argentina’s President Javier Milei offered a similarly supportive interpretation of Bolsonaro’s result, calling him a “dear friend” and saying he hoped Argentina and Brazil could work together as commercial, cultural and political partners. Milei also described the vote as a victory against Lula, language that underscores the ideological divide surrounding the runoff.

U.S. President Donald Trump did not endorse Bolsonaro. Instead, he cited Brazil’s same-day tally as a contrast with U.S. vote counting, initially referring to India before correcting the post to Brazil, according to the report.

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