State of Israel

The decisive role played by Brazilian diplomat Oswaldo Aranha at the session of the United Nations General Assembly which approved the partition plan of Palestine in 1947 and enabled the creation of the State of Israel in 1948, has always been remembered as a landmark in the establishment of Brazil-Israel relations. In 1949, the two countries established relations which, since then, have been founded upon friendship, cordiality and the gradual establishment of a positive bilateral agenda. The presence of a significant Jewish community in Brazil, the tenth-largest in the world, has also helped Brazil and Israel to maintain a privileged relationship.

In addition to values shared between the two societies, cooperation between Brazil and Israel unfolds in three priority areas: science, technology and innovation; economy and trade; and defense. The increasingly frequent ministerial meetings also demonstrate that there are opportunities for cooperation in the fields of water resources, energy, space and education.

Based on the shared commitment of fighting against all forms of xenophobia, intolerance and discrimination, in particular antisemitism, Brazil joined the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) as an observer State in November 2021.

The good performance of the Israeli economy, the free trade agreement between Israel and Mercosur and the strong community ties allow us to consider the significant trade and investment potential between Brazil and Israel.

The MERCOSUR-Israel Free Trade Agreement signed in Montevideo in December 2007, came into effect in Brazil in 2010. Israel was the first country outside Latin America to sign a free trade agreement with the South American bloc.

With regard to trade, Israel was in the last decade among Brazil's six main trading partners in the Middle East. In 2022, it ranked fifth, behind only Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Turkey and Iran. Historically, the balance has been in deficit for Brazil.

Between 2015 and 2021,  trade flow totaled  between $1.3 and $1.7 billion. In 2022, however, it reached $4 billion, with a Brazilian deficit of $200 million.

Brazil maintains its historic commitment to the two-State solution, with Palestine and Israel living side by side, in peace and security, within mutually agreed and internationally recognized borders.

Chronology of bilateral relations

1947 - With Brazil’s vote in favor and under the presidency of Oswaldo Aranha, the United Nations General Assembly approves the partition of Mandatory Palestine into two States through Resolution 181 (II), of November 29

1949 - Establishment of bilateral relations

1951 - Vice President of the Republic Café Filho visits Israel

1951 - Opening of the Legation of Brazil in Tel Aviv

1955 - Opening of the Embassy of Israel in Rio de Janeiro

1958 - The Brazilian Legation in Tel Aviv is elevated to Embassy status

1959 - Foreign Minister Golda Meir visits Brazil

1970 - Foreign Minister Mário Gibson Barbosa visits Israel

1971 - The Embassy of Israel is transferred to Brasilia

1973 - Foreign Minister Abba Eban visits Brazil

1987 - Foreign Minister Shimon Peres visits Brazil

1995 - Foreign Minister Luiz Felipe Lampreia visits Israel

2005 - Deputy Prime Minister Ehud Olmert visits Brasilia. Foreign Minister Celso Amorim visits Israel

2006 - Minister of Education Fernando Haddad visits Israel

2007 - Minister of the Environment Marina Silva visits Israel

2008 - Foreign Minister Celso Amorim visits Israel

2009 - Foreign Minister Celso Amorim visits Israel. Foreign Minister Avigdor Liebermann visits São Paulo and Brasilia. President Shimon Peres visits Brasilia, São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro

2010 - President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva visits Israel. The MERCOSUR-Israel Free Trade Agreement comes into effect. Minister of Defense Nelson Jobim visits Israel. Foreign Minister Celso Amorim visits Israel. Minister of Tourism Luís Eduardo Barretto visits Israel. The Chief of Staff of Brazil's Institutional Security Office, General Jorge Armando Felix, visits Israel

2011 - Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Orit Noked visits Brazil. Minister of Industry, Trade and Labor Shalom Simhon visits Brazil. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Strategic Affairs Moshe Ya'alon visits Brazil. Minister of National Integration Fernando Bezerra visits Israel

2012 - Minister of Science and Technology Daniel Hershkowitz visits Brazil. Foreign Minister Antonio de Aguiar Patriota visits Israel

2013 - Minister of Health Alexandre Padilha visits Israel. Vice President of the Republic Michel Temer visits Israel. Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture Marcelo Crivella visits Israel

2015 - The Speaker of Brazil’s lower house of Congress, Eduardo Cunha, visits Israel

2016 - Minister of Education Naftali Bennet visits Brazil. Minister of Culture and Sports Miri Regev visits Brazil on the occasion of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. Foreign Minister José Serra visits Israel on the occasion of the funeral ceremony of President Shimon Peres

2017 - Minister of Health Ricardo Barros visits Israel. Minister of Human Rights Luislinda Valois visits Israel. Ministry of Industry, Foreign Trade and Services Marcos Pereira visits Israel. The Speaker of Brazil’s lower house of Congress, Rodrigo Maia, visits Israel

2018 - Foreign Minister Aloysio Nunes Ferreira visits Israel. Israeli Minister of Science, Technology and Space Ofir Akunis visits Brazil. Minister of Defense Joaquim Silva e Luna visits Israel

2019 - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visits Brazil to attend the inauguration ceremony of the President of the Republic. Minister of Science, Technology, Innovation and Communications Marcos Pontes visits Israel. President Jair Bolsonaro visits Israel. He leads a delegation including Minister Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Ernesto Araújo; Minister of Science, Technology, Innovation and Communications, Marcos Pontes; the Chief of Staff of Brazil's Institutional Security Office, General Augusto Heleno; Minister of Mines and Energy, Fleet Admiral Bento Albuquerque. The President of Brazil’s Supreme Court, Dias Toffoli, visits Israel

2021 - Brazilian delegation headed by Minister of Foreign Affairs Ernesto Araújo visits Israel. [Brazil-Israel Joint Declaration]

2022 -  Communications Minister Fabio Faria visits Israel

2023 - Communications Minister Juscelino Filho visits Israel