Brazilian President arrives on 4-day trip to Israel, visits Western Wall with Netanyahu

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, along with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu paid a visit to the Western Wall in Jerusalem's Old City on Monday afternoon (local time).

The Western Wall is a part of the retaining walls of the Second Jewish Temple in Jerusalem. Considered to be one of the holiest places for Jews to worship, the international community, however, does not recognise East Jerusalem, including the Old City, to be a part of Israel.

The Times of Israel reported that both the leaders placed notes in the cracks on the Wall and observed a few moments of silence for the prayers.

 

After a short ceremony, they toured the Western Wall tunnels, which are located underneath the Old City's Muslim Quarter.

After his arrival here on Sunday, Bolsonaro announced the opening of a "trade, technology and innovation office" that would be "an official office of the Government of Brazil, in Jerusalem," Netanyahu was quoted as saying.

"I hope that this is a first step toward the opening in time of the Brazilian embassy in Jerusalem," he added.

"Recognising the historic ties of Jerusalem with the Jewish identity and that the city is the political heart of the State of Israel, I announced today that Brazil will open there a Brazilian office to promote trade, investment and exchange in innovation and technology," Bolsonaro tweeted.

Bolsonaro arrived in Tel Aviv on Sunday (local time) for a four-day visit, just days before the general elections in Israel scheduled to take place on April 9.

This visit is a follow up on Netanyahu's visit to Brazil for the inauguration ceremony of Bolsonaro in December 2018, along with U.S. Secretary of State Michael R Pompeo and Hungarian Prime Minister Victor Orban.

Bolsonaro is under pressure from the Evangelical community to relocate his country's embassy to Jerusalem.

As of now, only the United States and Guatemala have set up their embassies in Jerusalem. Paraguay had moved its embassy to the city last year but relocated it to Tel Aviv once again.

In recent weeks, several countries have opened or announced plans to open trade or cultural centres in the capital, including the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia, Romania and Honduras.