Israel conceded that a former settler leader will not be the country’s next ambassador to Brazil because of this country’s refusal to accept the credentials.

“We needn’t delude ourselves, Dani Dayan will not be the ambassador to Brazil. We condemn Brazil’s behavior,” said Tsahi Hanegbi, head of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee and a Likud party member close to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appointed Dayan, former chairman of the Yesha Council, which represents Israeli settlements in Judea-Samaria (the West Bank), to the post of ambassador but since then Brazil never officially accepted or refused the appointment, effectively signalling rejection of his appointment, a decision that is backed by Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff.

Its objections apparently stem from Dayan's ties to Judea-Samaria, which Brazil considers part of land to become a future Palestinian state.

The government in Brasilia had hoped Israel to understand that its failure to respond to Jerusalem’s request to provide Dayan with diplomatic credentials mean that it is diplomatically refusing to accept him and wishes for Israel to quietly nominate someone else.

But Netanyahu has said that if Dayan was not approved, a different ambassador would not be sent in his place, leaving Israel with only a deputy ambassador to the South American country, representing a de facto downgrade in relations

Senior leaders in Brazil’s Jewish community have attempted to mediate between the two countries in order to salvage bilateral ties.

About 120,000 Jews live in Brazil.

‘’The most important thing is the relation between the two countries and we hope that it can improve as soon as we can overcome this issue,” said at the time the president of the Jewish Confederation of Brazil, Fernando Lottenberg,

Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely had warned that Brazil’s continued failure to approve Dayan’s appointment would lead to a diplomatic crisis between the two countries.

Hotovely, in a an interview on Channel 10, said the current ambassador to Brazil, Raed Mansour, returned to Israel last week, and that Jerusalem has no intention of naming anyone to replace him other than Dayan

If Dayan is not approved, Israel will be represented in Brasilia by its No. 2 diplomat there, she said.