Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Breaking News

Brazil Resists Confirming Right Wing Settler Leader as Israel Envoy

Brazil is refusing to confirm Dani Dayan, who was named as Israeli ambassador to the country.

Citing an unnamed senior Brazilian official, the Times of Israel reported Thursday that Brazil plans not to respond to Israel’s request for confirmation in hopes that the Jewish state will eventually name another ambassador.

Dayan, a native of Argentina, led the Yesha Council, a group representing Israel’s West Bank settlements, for six years. Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff in September expressed discomfort with his appointment, saying it would signal “support for the settlement enterprise.”

According to the Times of Israel, Brazil is refusing to confirm Dayan not just because of his involvement with the settlements, but also because it is unhappy that Netanyahu announced the appointment before informing Brazilian officials that the current ambassador planned to quit.

Israeli Foreign Ministry officials declined to comment on the record. Privately, some dismissed Brazil’s snub, saying Dayan would eventually be confirmed, while others said Israel would likely name a replacement.

Brazil, the largest country in Latin America, is the seventh largest economy in the world. Israel is working to develop commercial links with international markets in South America, especially Brazil.

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.