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SOUTH
AMERICA |
Brazilian Lula on Mideast
Tour
BRASILIA - Brazilian President Luiz Inácio
Lula da Silva is expected to travel to Tel
Aviv on Saturday to start the first visit by
a Brazilian head of State to Israel, the
Palestinian territories and Jordan.
On Monday, Lula is scheduled to start his
state visit of Israel, where he will be
received by President Shimon Peres, Prime
Minister Benyamin Netanyahu and Parliament
(Knesset) Speaker Reuven Rivlin. He is also
expected to meet with opposition leader,
Deputy Tzipi Livni.
Also on Monday, he is scheduled to attend a
bilateral business seminar and a plenary
session of Parliament, where he will give a
speech and meet with representatives of the
civil society.
On Tuesday, Lula is scheduled to visit the
Holocaust Memorial and plant a tree in the
Jerusalem Forest.
A note from the Brazilian Foreign Ministry
says that Brazil-Israel trade went from $440
million in 2002 to 1.60 billion in 2008, but
contracted in 2009 due to the international
financial crisis and is expected to grow
this year as a result of a trade agreement
signed between Israel and MERCOSUR.
Lula's visit comes two days after the
Brazilian government issued an official
communiqué expressing concern for the
Israeli decision to build 1,600 houses in
East Jerusalem and another 112 in the West
Bank. |
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