(CNN) — Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz announced on Monday Persona non grata In a statement to Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in Israel Katz posted on X.
“We will neither forgive nor forget: On my behalf and on behalf of the citizens of Israel, I informed President Lula. Persona non grata Until he apologized in Israel and took back his words,” Katz said.
Non-personal grataLatin for “non-person” or “undesirable person”, it is a diplomatic term used to refer to a foreign person prohibited from entering or remaining in a country by the government in power.
At Sunday's African Union summit in Addis Ababa, Lula called the situation in Gaza “genocide.”
“What is happening in Gaza with the Palestinian people is unprecedented in history. In fact, it happened when Hitler decided to kill the Jews,” Lula said.
Katz's announcement came after he summoned the Brazilian ambassador to Yad Vashem, the Israeli Holocaust memorial, to express Israel's objection to Lula's statements.
Israel's foreign minister underscored the seriousness of Lula's comments, calling it an “extremely anti-Semitic attack” that “disgraces” the memory of those who died in the Holocaust, including members of Katz's own family.