By David Harris

Israeli hawkish Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman Wednesday met Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on the first leg of his trip to Latin America. It is the first visit by the top Israeli diplomat in more than a decade and comes as Muslim countries are strengthening their ties with Latin America.

Even before Lieberman's plane touched down, he was at the center of a political row after a leading member of Lula's Workers Party dubbed Lieberman as "a racist and a fascist", according to Israeli daily Ha'aretz.

It was not the best start to a trip that is of such importance to Israel. Lieberman's 10-day Latin American tour, together with a group of businessmen from the technology, communications and agriculture sectors, also includes stops in Argentina, Peru and Colombia.

Israel was in the headlines in Colombia early this week after one of two-dozen Kfir military aircraft sold by Israel crashed during a training flight.

Israel expects there will be more military deals with Latin American nations, but it knows that many countries in the region prefer to do their business with the Arab and Muslim worlds than with the Jewish state.

In recent months Israel has invested considerable time and effort in trying to win over some countries in the region. Israel' s Public Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch was in Panama and Costa Rica a few weeks ago and Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon attended the General Assembly of the Organization of American States in Honduras in early June.

Upcoming trips by top government officials, including President Shimon Peres, will take in Paraguay, Ecuador and other states.

"We have many friends in Latin America and we are trying to re-engage with some of our friends, not that we have ignored them, but we haven't spent sufficient time in recent years," Ayalon told Xinhua on Wednesday.

Since Israel's creation in 1948, it has tried to win over what were then called Third World countries. In the interim, Israel has worked hard at trying to make friends in Africa and Asia. The Lieberman team believes that push must continue.

"Israel must develop contacts in new directions, in addition to its special relations with the US and close ties with Europe, and build broad international coalitions, in order to expand its influence and strengthen Israeli interests," said Israeli Foreign Ministry in a statement.

However, the timing of this re-engagement appears more to do with the policies of a third party -- Iran.

"Some of the importance Israel assigns to the matter also stems from Iran's heightened activity in South America," said the statement.

While Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is now seen as a close ally of his Venezuelan counterpart Hugo Chavez, Tehran is also trying to foster closer ties with other Latin states, particularly those with strong socialist governments.

"Over the past year, Iran has worked diligently to expand relations with a host of Latin American countries, most of which have populist leaders who harbor a strong distrust of the US and are looking for a powerful friend to help them rebuff Washington's influence," former CIA counter-terrorism official John Kiriakou wrote in the Los Angeles Times at the end of 2008.

Outside of Venezuela, the two key target countries for Iran appear to be Bolivia and Paraguay.

Perhaps the most poignant moment in Lieberman's visit will be when he lays a wreath at the site of the Association Mutual Israelita Argentina Jewish community center in Buenos Aries. It was 15 years ago this week that 85 people were killed and hundreds were wounded when a bomb ripped through the building.

Argentina believes Iranians masterminded that attack and that it was carried out by members of Shiite Lebanese group Hezbollah. Argentina and Interpol are still hunting the perpetrators.

"Israel along with many other nations is concerned with Iran's infiltration into Latin America, primarily through Hezbollah and we know that this will be an issue discussed between the Israeli foreign minister and his counterparts in the region," said Ayalon.

"For years we've seen what appears to be an infiltration by Iran into Latin America, and we're talking about more than the Hezbollah act in Argentina. It's a targeted effort by Iran along with Hugo Chavez to enter every possible South and Central American country," said Shlomo Aharonson, professor of international relations at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

The Arab League has also been making inroads into Latin America. Some 12 South American countries and 22 Arab states, in Qatar in March this year, attended the second Arab-Latin American summit. The first was launched in Brazil four years ago.

Most of the relationship centers on energy and trade, but for Israel, Latin America's strong ties with the Arab world are cause for concern on the diplomatic track.

While the Arab influence in Latin America is considerable, it is not "radical," and most of the Arabs -- there are estimated to be some 20 million Arabs living in South America today -- living there tend to have nothing to do with extreme Islamist organizations, said Aharonson.

"The fact is that they don't behave in a way that is dangerous for us in comparison to Iran's efforts," said Aharonson.

That is why Israel is far more concerned about Iran's role in the region rather than that of the Arab world. However, Iran's attempt to win the hearts and minds of Latin America may face failure without any Israeli influence, according to the professor.

The basic modus operandi of Iran and Venezuela is to offer financial and oil incentives to third countries in order to win their diplomatic support. They are doing so in order to create an anti-American alliance, said Aharonson.

The trouble for Ahmadinejad and Chavez though is that their own economies are on the brink, and while they promised to deliver to numerous states, they may in the end have to let them down because they simply do not have the financial wherewithal to meet their pledges, according to the professor.

(Xinhua News Agency July 23, 2009)