JERUSALEM — Israel and Brazil are still engaged in a diplomatic standoff over Israel’s appointment of a former settler leader as its next ambassador to Brasília, and some Israeli officials signaled recently that they could take action if the appointment was not approved soon.

It has been m ore than four months since Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the appointment of Dani Dayan, the former chairman of an organization that represents Jewish settlers in the West Bank, and the Brazilian government has yet to approve his nomination, indicating its displeasure.

“We are waiting for a Brazilian answer,” Emmanuel Nahshon, the spokesman for Israel’s Foreign Ministry, said on Monday. “It is clear that the longer we don’t get one, it is a kind of negative in diplomatic code. Basically no answer means ‘no,’” he added.

The office of Brazil’s president, Dilma Rousseff, would not comment on the situation Monday, but a government official, speaking on condition of anonymity to freely discuss a diplomatic dispute, said the government’s silence reflected its objection to the way Israel publicly announced Mr. Dayan’s appointment before Brazil could assent.