Bolsonaro's passport return request to visit 'Israel' denied
3 Min Read
Brazil's Supreme Court has not bought into the heartwarming narrative and promptly shut down Bolsonaro's plea for the return of his passport to jet off to "Israel".
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Jair Bolsonaro, then-president of Brazil, in Rio de Janeiro, on October 28, 2022 (AFP)
Brazil's Supreme Court has rejected a plea from the defense team of former President Jair Bolsonaro for the return of his passport.
In detail, Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes reportedly denied the request on Thursday, stating that the restriction was deemed "necessary and appropriate" given the ongoing investigation into the alleged coup.
This comes shortly after Jair Bolsonaro, the former right-wing President currently under scrutiny for an alleged coup plot, made a rather convenient plea to Brazil's high court, asking for the temporary reinstatement of his passport to go on a casual trip to "Israel" amid the ongoing genocide in Gaza.
Bolsonaro's lawyer, Fabio Wajngarten, has graciously clarified that this urgent passport revival is solely to accommodate an official invitation for a "family vacation in Israel" from May 12 to 18.
Simultaneously, Bolsonaro's lawyers submitted the request in a letter to Federal Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who heads an investigation into whether Bolsonaro incited a "coup attempt" to thwart his 2022 election opponent and current President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva from taking office in January 2023.
The big picture
Brazil's courts have prohibited Bolsonaro from seeking public office, and the continued investigation by prosecutors has led his detractors to view him as a potential flight risk.
Then, The New York Times reported that Bolsonaro had sought refuge in the Hungarian embassy in Brasilia for a two-day period following the confiscation of his passport.
It is worth noting that Bolsonaro maintains a close alliance with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who extended an invitation for him to visit on February 26, amid a diplomatic dispute between "Israel" and Brazil in the wake of the ongoing Israeli genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.
"Israel" branded Lula as "persona non grata" after he drew parallels between Israeli assaults on the Gaza Strip and the Holocaust in February. Simultaneously, Brazil recalled its ambassador to "Israel" on Monday and summoned the Israeli ambassador to the country.
At the time, President Lula accused "Israel" of committing "genocide" against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip, likening its crimes to Adolf Hitler's in Nazi Germany. This was not Lula's first time to draw such comparisons, nor was he the first world leader to do so.
Earlier this month, Lula stated that "the genocide in Gaza must be ended immediately," adding that "the people in Gaza are dying in queues to get food, and the indifference of the international community is shocking."
