INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
was to head Thursday on the first trip by an Israeli premier to Brazil, where he will attend the inauguration of incoming president Jair
Bolsonaro.Netanyahu will also hold talks with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on the sidelines of the January 1 inauguration in Brasilia,
an Israeli official told AFP.Netanyahu is due to meet Bolsonaro on Friday afternoon in Rio de Janeiro, the official said on condition of
anonymity."This visit to the biggest country in Latin America will strengthen trade and economic ties between the two countries,"
Netanyahu's office said in a statement.He will also hold talks with the presidents of Chile and Honduras while there, among other officials,
and meet with members of the Jewish community and a pro-Israel Christian group.He will fly back after the inauguration in the early hours of
January 2, the official said.Bolsonaro has said he wants to follow in the footsteps of United States President Donald Trump and move his
country's Israel embassy to Jerusalem.Netanyahu welcomed the announcement and called it "historic" -- though Bolsonaro later backtracked by
saying "it hasn't been decided yet".Doing so would please his evangelical Christian support base, but would run the risk of provoking
commercial retaliation from Arab states, some of which are major importers of Brazilian meat.Trump's move broke with decades of precedent
that the status of the disputed city should be negotiated between the Israelis and Palestinians.Netanyahu's meeting with Pompeo is sure to
include discussions on Syria following Trump's decision to withdraw the 2,000 US troops there.Israel is concerned that its main enemy Iran
will have a freer hand in the neighbouring country following the withdrawal.Iran is supporting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime in
his country's civil war, and Netanyahu has pledged to stop Tehran from entrenching itself militarily next door.Netanyahu, who also serves as
foreign minister, last year made the first trip by a sitting Israeli prime minister to Latin America, visiting Argentina, Colombia and
Mexico.He has sought to expand Israel's diplomatic reach through technology and defence exports, and has worked to persuade more countries
to vote in his country's favour at the United Nations, where it faces frequent criticism over its treatment of the Palestinians.The Brazil
trip comes at a sensitive time domestically for Netanyahu after Israel's parliament on Wednesday approved his government's decision to call
early elections for April 9.He is looking to extend his long reign at the top of Israeli politics, but a slew of corruption investigations
have cast a cloud over his future.(This story has not been edited by TheIndianSubcontinent staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated
