Bolsonaro seeks court permission to accept Netanyahu's invite to Israel

Brazil's former president Jair Bolsonar has requested federal authorities to return his passport and authorise travel to Israel so he can accept an event invitation from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to visit in May, Bolsonaro's lawyers said in a statement.

The attorneys submitted Bolsonaro's request to the Supreme Court on Monday, the same day The New York Times published security camera footage revealing that the former president spent two nights at Hungary's embassy in Brasilia.

His stay, in February, came just days after Federal Police seized his passport during a raid related to an investigation into whether he and top aides plotted to ignore 2022 election results and stage an uprising to keep the defeated leader in power.

The revelation of his stay sparked widespread speculation he may have been attempting to evade arrest, as agents would not have jurisdiction to enter embassy grounds due to diplomatic conventions restricting access.

Bolsonaro's lawyers denied that was his intent, saying in a separate statement it was "illogical" to think he was seeking asylum or avoiding authorities.

The stay formed part of his political agenda with the Hungarian government, with whom he has "well-known alignment," the statement said.

In his petition to the Supreme Court for authorisation to travel to Israel from May 12 to 18, Bolsonaro's lawyers said the proposed trip wouldn't jeopardise the ongoing legal processes he faces, as he has scheduled appointments after his planned date of return.

The request didn't specify which event Bolsonaro aims to attend, but the proposed period coincides with Israel's "Independence Day".

"As is public knowledge, part of the political activity involves international relations as well as expanding dialogue with global leaders," Bolsonaro's lawyer Fabio Wajngarten said on X, formerly Twitter.

The Supreme Court's press office said it will analyse the request and that there is no deadline for a decision.

Brazil-Israel row

Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Israel's Netanyahu are key international allies of Bolsonaro.

By contrast, Netanyahu, in particular, has had frosty relations with Bolsonaro's rival and successor, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

Last month, Brasilian President Lula said the ongoing war on the blockaded enclave "isn't a war, it's a genocide," and compared the unparalleled attacks on Palestinian civilians to "when Hitler decided to kill the Jews."

Israel's foreign minister said Lula would not be welcome in his country until he apologises for comments he made comparing Israel's war in besieged Gaza to the Holocaust, accusing him of a "very serious anti-Semitic attack."

Israel's ongoing war on Gaza has resulted in the deaths of at least 32,552 Palestinians, with nearly 75,000 wounded.

The Israeli war has pushed almost entire population of Gaza into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while at least 60 percent of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. A leading UN expert earlier this week confirmed that Israel is carrying out genocide in Gaza.

While the extremist government of warmonger Netanyahu has turned much of the territory into a devastated wasteland, Israel has also imposed a siege on its 2.4 million people, eased only by occasional aid deliveries as a result of worldwide protests.