Brazilian authorities have warned against jumping to conclusions after Israel claimed to have foiled an attack by a Hezbollah cell in the South American country.
“The case is ongoing and must not be used by outside governments to promote their own interests”, Brazilian Justice Minister Flavio Dino said in a social media post on Thursday.
Dino called the claim that a cell linked to Lebanon-based Hezbollah had plotted to kill Jews in Brazil a “hypothesis,” stressing that no foreign agency could presume the outcome of the investigation.
Flávio Dino responde as falas absurdas do embaixador de Israel no Brasil pic.twitter.com/pDhp5KNAkA
— abocadelobo 🇧🇷 (@abocadelobo) November 9, 2023
“We appreciate appropriate international cooperation, but we reject any foreign authority that would consider directing Brazilian police bodies, or use investigations in our responsibility for the purposes of promoting their political interests,” the minister said, without directly mentioning Israel.
The remarks appear to be a reaction to claims by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said his country’s Mossad intelligence service had helped Brazil stop “a terrorist attack… planned by the Hezbollah terrorist organization, directed and financed by Iran.”
“Given the backdrop of the war in Gaza against the Hamas terrorist organization, Hezbollah and the Iranian regime are continuing to operate around the world in order to attack Israeli, Jewish, and Western targets,” Netanyahu declared on Wednesday.
🚨 Política: 'Nenhuma força estrangeira manda na PF', diz Flávio Dino em resposta ao premiê de Israel pic.twitter.com/CAopLuehXZ
— Notícias Paralelas (@NP__Oficial) November 9, 2023
Dino stressed that the Brazilian investigation had started “before the outbreak of the ongoing tragedies on the international scene.”
The Brazilian Federal Police issued a similar statement, highlighting national authority over the probe and pledging it would follow the facts rather than be directed by expectations from elsewhere.
Citing court officials, the Agencia Brasil public news agency reported on Thursday that the tip about the suspects’ alleged activities had come from the FBI, which mentioned their possible links to the Lebanese Resistance movement Hezbollah.
(RT, PC)
