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Brazil Applauds New Ties with Israel
(JTA) Marcus M. Gilban - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gained pop star status among Brazilians during a five-day visit to attend the inauguration of President Jair Bolsonaro. Brazil's most influential primetime newscasts dedicated several minutes to coverage of his visit. The warm feelings between Israel's prime minister and Brazil's president played out in public events and on social media, contrasting with the previous 16 years of tension between the two countries. Netanyahu was awarded the National Order of the Southern Cross, Brazil's highest national honor for high-ranking guests, by Bolsonaro. "This visit is unique, historical, a turnover in the relationship between Israel and Brazil," Israel's ambassador to Brazil, Yossi Shelley, told JTA. On Saturday morning in Rio de Janeiro, a scene of Netanyahu and his wife eating at a seafront restaurant fueled a media spectacle. When one of the onlookers yelled "Free Palestine," Netanyahu immediately added "from Hamas." At night, the iconic Christ the Redeemer statue on Sugarloaf Mountain in Rio was lit up with the blue-and-white colors of the Israeli flag.