Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has responded to criticism of his remarks on the Holocaust, saying the comments were "never meant to be used in a historical context".

Addressing a group of Brazilian evangelicals on Thursday, Bolsonaro said: "We can forgive, but we can't forget".

"That's my phrase. Those who forget their past are condemned not to have a future," he said, adding that action was needed to ensure the Holocaust was not repeated.

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The rebukes were swift from Israeli President Reuven Rivlin and Israel's Holocaust memorial.

"Whether they be individuals or organizations, party heads or heads of state, no one will ordain the Jewish people's forgiveness, nor can this be obtained through any interest," Mr Rivlin said in a statement posted on Twitter on Saturday.

"It is no one's place to decide who can be forgiven and whether there should be forgiveness for the crimes of the Holocaust," Holocaust memorial centre Yad Vashem said in a separate statement.

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President Bolsonaro has released a statement clarifying his remarks, saying they have been misconstrued.

"Forgiveness is something personal, my speech was never meant to be used in a historical context, especially one where millions of innocent people were murdered in a cruel genocide," he said in a statement posted on the Facebook page of Israeli ambassador to Brazil, Yossi Shelley.

He said his comments should not be used to create a wedge between him and his "Jewish friends".

"To the people of Israel I wrote in the guestbook of the Yad Vashem museum in Jerusalem: 'Those who forget their past are doomed to not have a future'. Therefore, any other interpretation is only in the interest of those who want to push me away from my Jewish friends."

Yossi Shelley further explained on Israel's army radio that the remarks were a "a figure of speech" and that Bolsonaro did not personally forgive those responsible for the Holocaust.

"He said forgiveness is a personal matter, he said people can forgive, he personally does not," Shelley said, according to Israeli newspaper Hareetz.

The far-right Bolsonaro made a solidarity visit to Israel last month during which he raised eyebrows by asserting, after a tour of the Holocaust memorial Yad Vadshem, the Nazis had been "leftists".

Additional reporting: Reuters