Lula approval dips in Brazil after Israel-Gaza remarks

Lula approval dips in Brazil after Israel-Gaza remarks

Approval of Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's performance has slipped after his remarks last month likening Israel's war in Gaza to the Nazi genocide during World War Two, a new Genial/Quaest poll showed on Wednesday.

Approval of his way of governing dropped to 51% in February from 54% in December, at its lowest level since April 2023. Of those polled, 46% said he was doing a bad job, up from 43% in the previous survey.

Quaest's first poll this year showed that approval of Lula dipped especially among evangelical Christian voters, already a stronghold of former far-right President Jair Bolsonaro, after his remarks about the war in Gaza.

Lula denounced Israel's military action in the enclave as a "genocide" against Palestinians and compared it to "when Hitler decided to kill the Jews."

Israel described the comments as a serious anti-Semitic attack and has demanded an apology, saying Lula is unwelcome there until he retracts his remarks; Brazilian sources have said that would not happen.

Lula's approval among evangelical Christians - who make up nearly a third of Brazil's population - dropped to 35% from 41%, while their disapproval of his government jumped to 62% from 56%.

"The reaction to Lula's remarks about Gaza seems to give a good clue to explain it," Quaest pollster Felipe Nunes said. "About 60% of Brazilians believe he exaggerated in his comparison, but among evangelicals that number is even bigger: 69%."

"The remarks were so poorly received that the president did not obtain majority support even within his own political base," Nunes noted.

Genial/Quaest interviewed 2,000 people of voting age between Feb. 25 and 27. The poll has a 2.2 percentage point error margin.