The police station in the Belo Horizonte, the capital city of southeastern Brazil’s Minas Gerais state, is situated across the street from the Chabad House, and the two maintain good relations.

Rabbi Nissim Katari is the Shliach there for over 30 years, and it is reported that one of the policemen had a son, who he wanted to name him Binyamin Netanyahu Rosa Santiago deCastro. That is to say Binyamin Netanyahu was to be his first and middle name.

According to the story, as was told by Rav Katari’s son Mendel to Kikar Shabbos News, the policeman is a Christian Evangelist and an ardent lover and supporter of the State of Israel, as well as Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and the principles which he espoused in his appearances before the United Nations. Hence, he wanted to have the connection between this personality that he so admires and respects and his newborn son.

However, according to the report, in Brazil, one cannot name a child as one wishes, and registry officials realized “Netanyahu” is a last name, and therefore, they refused to register it as the child’s middle name. The police officer turned to his Chabad friend to see if he was able to intervene on his behalf. Rav Katari sent a letter to population registry officials, explaining that “Netanyahu” is indeed not a family name, since it is a reference to the biblical name “Netanya”.

The letter did what it was intended to do, as registry officials accepted it, and permitted the policeman to name his son as his wished. The son, Mendel, told Kikar that in the coming days, the policeman promises to come visit the Chabad house across from the police station, together with little Binyamin Netanyahu, to photograph him with the Chabad house in the background.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)