BRASILIA - Approval of Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's performance has slipped after his remarks in February likening Israel's war in Gaza to the Nazi genocide during World War II, a new Genial/Quaest poll showed on March 7.

Approval of his way of governing dropped to 51 per cent in February from 54 per cent in December, at its lowest level since April 2023.

Of those polled, 46 per cent said he was doing a bad job, up from 43 per cent in the previous survey.

Quaest's first poll this year showed that approval of Mr 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.

Mr 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.

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

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

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