30 Years On: Argentina Honors Jewish Center Bombing Victims as President Milei Vows Justice
He also said that his government would beef up the national intelligence system to prevent similar attacks.
By The Algemeiner and Reuters
Argentina’s Jewish community on Thursday commemorated the 30th anniversary of a targeted bombing that killed 85 people, with President Javier Milei promising to right decades of inaction and inconsistencies in the investigations into the attack.
In 1994, a bomb-filled van hit the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association (AMIA) Jewish community center in Buenos Aires, becoming the deadliest such incident in the nation’s history.
“Today we chose to speak out, not stay silent,” Milei said in an address on Wednesday evening. “We’re raising our voice, not folding our arms. We choose life, because anything else is making a game out of death.”
A clip posted to social media showed Milei arriving at Thursday’s commemoration even in Buenos Aires.
President Javier Milei arrives for the memorial ceremony marking 30 years since the bombing of the Asociación Mutual Israelita Argentina (AMIA), a Jewish community center in Buenos Aires. pic.twitter.com/8jJi5wijkQ
— Aviva Klompas (@AvivaKlompas) July 18, 2024
In April, Argentina’s top criminal court blamed Iran for the attack, saying it was carried out by Hezbollah terrorists responding to “a political and strategic design” by Iran.
Tehran has denied involvement and refused to turn over suspects, and previous investigations and Interpol arrest warrants have led nowhere.
Milei — a staunch proponent of both the Jewish community and of Israel — said on Wednesday he would propose a bill that would allow for the trial of the suspects in the attack in absentia.
He also said that his government would beef up the national intelligence system to prevent similar attacks from occurring again, while dedicating further resources into investigating the AMIA incident.
Argentine prosecutors have charged top Iranian officials and members of Iran-backed Lebanese terror group Hezbollah with ordering the bombing, as well as an attack in 1992 against the Israeli embassy in Argentina, which killed 22 people.
“Although they may never be able to serve a sentence, they will not be able to escape the eternal condemnation of a court proving their guilt in front of the whole world,” Milei said.
The president called the April decision an “enormous step” in seeking justice in the AMIA case, adding that there was much more to go due to the “cover up by the terrorist state of Iran.”
Last week, Milei declared Iran-backed militant Islamist group Hamas a terrorist organization for its Oct. 7 attack on Israel.
The president on Wednesday compared the attack on Israel with the 1994 bombing in Buenos Aires and demanded that Hamas release all of the hostages it had claimed, including eight Argentines.
Siren warning:
El Presidente Javier Milei participó en el acto por el 30° aniversario del atentado a la AMIA. pic.twitter.com/CXSBOHEp2L
— Oficina del Presidente (@OPRArgentina) July 18, 2024
Argentinians gather to mark the 30th anniversary of the AMIA Jewish community center bombing in Buenos Aires, which claimed the lives of 85 people.
The attack was carried out by Hezbollah, at the direction of Iran.
— Oli London (@OliLondonTV) July 18, 2024
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