On Tuesday, April 2, 2019, H.E. Jair Bolsonaro, the President of Brazil, planted an olive tree at the KKL-JNF Grove of Nations in Jerusalem. The president dedicated the tree planting to the strong friendship between Israel and Brazil.
Brazilian president H.E. Jair Bolsonaro arrived at the Grove of Nations in the Jerusalem Forest on Tuesday, April 2, 2019, to take part in a tree planting ceremony. He was accompanied by a large delegation from Brazil, which included several government ministers, senate members, business leaders and two busloads of journalists.
Upon his arrival, President Bolsonaro was greeted by KKL-JNF Vice Chairman Hernan Felman and KKL-JNF’s Latin American Department Director Ariel Goldgewicht. The president then unveiled his name plaque, the newest addition to the distinguished list of heads of state who had planted trees here before him.
KKL-JNF established the Grove of Nations and corresponding tree planting ceremony as a symbol of friendship between Israel and the nations of the world. The site is situated on Mount Herzl below the Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum. As is customary, Bolsonaro came to the Grove of Nations immediately following his visit to Yad Vashem.
At the plaque unveiling, Hernan Felman said to the Brazilian President:
“It is a great honor to host you in our capital. I believe that Israel and Brazil will become very close during your presidency. You are a true friend of Israel. Your choice to come to our country so soon after your inauguration shows that very clearly. May your visit to Jerusalem and Israel be blessed.”
This was Bolsonaro’s first ever visit to Israel and his maiden trip outside the American continent since his assuming office three months earlier on January 1.
Over his four day visit, Bolsonaro met several times with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, who had traveled to Brazil to attend Bolsonaro’s inauguration ceremony, and with leading figures in Israel’s business, hi-tech and manufacturing fields.
The Brazilian President’s tightly packed schedule also included a visit to the Western Wall and to the IDF Home Command Base, where he presented the IDF Search and Rescue Unit with an award for their service in Brazil in January in the aftermath of the devastating dam collapse, during which hundreds of people were buried in mud.
Felman went on to tell Bolsonaro that while Israel is a young and tiny country compared to Brazil, which is 410 times larger, Israel has managed to overcome its limitations.
“Today Israel is a bastion of cutting-edge research and development in every area one can think of. The hi-tech industry in Israel is a force multiplier in the fields of food security, medicine, and science, to mention just a few. Our organization KKL-JNF has been part of that success. Over the last hundred years or so, we have developed knowledge in many disciplines such as forestry, combating desertification and climate change, irrigation, and environmental protection. Today we are very happy to share our knowledge with the countries of the world.”
Bolsonaro thanked Felman for his warm words and for the invitation to plant a tree in the Grove of Nations.
“I have always known that Israel is a small country but in order to describe Israel, one must agree that Israel is a great country. It is a huge honor and pleasure for me to be able to plant an olive tree here for the people of Brazil. We know from the Bible and our Judeo-Christian tradition that the olive tree is a symbol of peace and friendship. My trip here marks the resumption of dialogue and co-operation between our peoples. The fraternity between Brazilians and Israelis is our most precious possession.”
The Brazilian ambassador to Israel, Paulo Cesar Meira De Vasconcellos, read the Planters Prayer in Portuguese. Yossi Shelley, the Israeli Ambassador to Brazil, read the Hebrew version.
President Jair Bolsonaro then planted an olive tree sapling. After the president gave the tree its first watering, he was presented with a framed tree planting certificate by Hernan Felman. The certificate read:
Presented to
H.E. Jair Messias Bolsonaro
President of the Federative Republic of Brazil
On the occasion of his planting of an olive tree in
The Grove of Nations
in the Jerusalem Forest
2nd April 2019 – 26th Adar 5779