TEL AVIV, February 19. /TASS/. The declaration of Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva persona non grata in Israel is unprecedented, as no head of state has ever been subject to this before, Israeli Foreign Ministry Spokesman Lior Hayat told a TASS correspondent.

"As far as I have been able to establish, this is the first case of a head of state actually being named persona non grata," Hayat said.

"Basically, what this move means is that President Lula [da Silva] is not welcome in Israel. It's very simple," he clarified.