Israel’s Defence Minister Israel Katz on Tuesday escalated an already fraught bilateral dispute by calling Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva an “antisemitic supporter of Hamas” and likening him to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The remarks were posted in Portuguese on Katz’s social-media account and accompanied by an AI-generated image that depicted Lula as Khamenei’s marionette. Katz’s attack followed Israel’s decision a day earlier to downgrade diplomatic relations with Brasília after Brazil failed to approve Gali Dagan as Israel’s new ambassador. Tensions have been mounting since February 2024, when Israel declared Lula persona non grata for comparing the war in Gaza to the Holocaust. The row intensified last month when Brazil withdrew from the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance and formally joined South Africa’s genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice. Brazil’s Foreign Ministry called Katz’s language “unacceptable offences” and demanded an investigation into the recent deaths of journalists in Gaza. It has already recalled Ambassador Frederico Meyer from Tel Aviv for consultations. Katz said Israel would defend itself “without Lula and his allies” but expressed hope for better ties in the future, leaving relations between the two countries at their lowest point in decades.