Brazil's acting Foreign minister Jose Serra. (AP/Natacha Pisarenko) (AP/Natacha Pisarenko)
Israel Jose Serra

Brazil says it regrets supporting a UN resolution that denies the historical connection between the Jewish People and the Temple Mount, and has vowed to fight such anti-Israel resolutions in the future.

In April, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) adopted a resolution that ignored Jewish historical ties to the Temple Mount and the Western Wall in Jerusalem.

With 33 votes in favor, six against, and 17 abstentions, the resolution solely refers to the Temple Mount areas by their Muslim names—Al-Aqsa Mosque/Haram al-Sharif—with the exception of two references to the Western Wall Plaza in parentheses. The resolution also referred to the Western Wall plaza by its Muslim name, Al-Buraq Plaza.

According to the Times of Israel, Brazil’s acting Foreign Minister Jose Serra admitted that the text was “partial and unbalanced.”

In a press release issued last week a reported on by TOI, the Brazilian Foreign Ministry stated that during the deliberations over the resolution last month it tried to “soften the terms of the original proposal” but, having failed to do so, eventually voted in favor.

“However, the fact that the decision does not make express reference to the historical ties of the Jewish people to Jerusalem, particularly to the Western Wall, the holiest shrine of Judaism, is an error, which makes the text partial and unbalanced.”

Brasilia, the statement continued, “reiterates its full recognition of these bonds and its position in favor of the free access of believers of the three religions, Christianism, Islamism and Judaism, to the holy sites of the Old City of Jerusalem, as well as its support for the existing agreements between Israel and Jordan on the administration of the city.”

The Brazilian government pledged to “review its vote if the deficiencies pointed out in the decision are not corrected in future assessment of the subject by UNESCO.”

France has also retracted its support of the UNESCO resolution.

After the vote on the resolution, which was submitted by six Muslim countries, Israel reacted sharply, while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu invited UN officials to a lecture in history to learn on the millennia-old bond between the Jewish People and Jerusalem.

By: United with Israel Staff

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