Brazil and the United States can pursue a strong and friendly relationship despite a disagreement about whether Israel’s war against Hamas should be likened to the Holocaust, Secretary of State Antony Blinken assessed.

“Obviously, the comparison of Gaza to the Holocaust, we profoundly disagree,” Blinken told reporters in Rio de Janeiro. “But that’s also something that friends do. We can have these disagreements, even profound disagreements on one particular issue — or, I should say, even an aspect of the issue — and still continue all of the vital work that we’re doing together.”