Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Fast Forward

Lula da Silva defeats Bolsonaro, earning cheers and boos from divided Brazilian Jewish community

Brazil’s largest Jewish organization said it is ready for ‘constructive and democratic dialogue’ with the new president, who has a rocky history with the Jewish community

RIO DE JANEIRO (JTA) — As the left-wing former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva completed a triumphant return to politics by beating incumbent Jair Bolsonaro in a tight election on Sunday, Brazilian Jewish groups welcomed him with a conciliatory message they hope will cool down the polarization within their deeply split 120,000-strong community.

“President Lula, we wish you every success in your four-year term. At the same time, we reiterate our permanent readiness for constructive and democratic dialogue,” read a note signed by Claudio Lottenberg, president of the Brazilian Israelite Confederation, the country’s umbrella Jewish organization.

Da Silva, a former union leader who was president of Brazil between 2003 and 2010, garnered 50.90% of all valid votes in the tight Sunday runoff. President Bolsonaro, a fervently Christian right-wing nationalist, received 49.10%.

Lottenberg’s statement points to the fact that Jewish groups had a very rocky relationship with da Silva, nicknamed Lula, during his tenure.

In 2009, da Silva warmly welcomed former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a notorious Holocaust denier whose regime persecuted minorities and critics, for a visit that drew international criticism.

One year later, da Silva became Brazil’s first head of state to visit Israel since Brazilian Emperor Pedro II toured the Holy Land in 1876. However, he refused to visit Theodor Herzl’s grave on part of the itinerary for visiting foreign officials in honor of the 150th anniversary of the father of Zionism. Days after, he laid a wreath at Yasser Arafat’s grave in Ramallah. In the final month of his administration, his government officially recognized a Palestinian state. 

“Long live the Brazilian people, who chose the path of freedom and democracy instead of hatred, intolerance, fascism. A heartfelt thank you from this Brazilian-Palestinian diaspora,” read a note by the Brazilian Palestinian federation welcoming da Silva’s victory. Brazil is home to a diaspora of around 60,000 Palestinians.

The PalestinaHoy website went further, posting a picture of Bolsonaro holding an Israeli flag with the words “Zionism was defeated in Brazil.” 

While in power, Da Silva enacted ambitious social programs and prioritized foreign policy but his tenure was plagued by scandal. In 2017, he was convicted of corruption and money laundering — which he denied — and was sent to jail, where he served 580 days. His political ally and presidential successor Dilma Rousseff was eventually removed from office for manipulating the budget.

Bolsonaro, known for his highly controversial rhetoric — which has been widely labeled at different times as racist, misogynist, homophobic and fascist — developed a historic closeness with Israel and its former prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. 

Both Brazilian and Israeli media highlighted the fact that Bolsonaro’s wife Michelle wore a T-shirt with an Israeli flag at a polling station on Sunday. The Brazil Israeli Institute, a non-affiliated far-left Jewish group, accused the first lady of kidnapping Jewish symbols. 

“I don’t believe that the polarization will end in the short term, but many voices and relevant actors are working effectively to at least mitigate it,” Lottenberg told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. “We’ll continue to promote civilized and constructive debate between the different currents of Brazilian Jewry, based on the defense of democracy, tolerance, and Jewish values.”

This article originally appeared on JTA.org.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse..

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.