Argentina President Condemns Hamas; Doubles Down on Promise to Move Embassy to Jerusalem

Argentina President Condemns Hamas; Doubles Down on Promise to Move Embassy to Jerusalem

Argentinian President Javier Milei arrived in Israel last Tuesday on his first bilateral visit since he assumed the presidency in December.  

Milei reiterated his campaign promise to move his country’s embassy to Jerusalem, though Argentina does not have an official ambassador to Israel. Milei was accompanied by his personal rabbi, Shimon Axel Wahnish, who is expected to become the envoy to Israel, and  Argentina’s Foreign Minister Diana Mondino.

Upon arrival, Milei went to visit the Western Wall in Jerusalem where he became visibly emotional.

On Thursday, the Argentinian president visited Kibbutz Nir Oz in the Gaza border, which was heavily attacked by Hamas on October 7. He was accompanied by Israeli President Isaac Herzog and Ofelia Roitman, a returned hostage who was held captive by Hamas. This was Roitman’s first time returning to her home following the attack.

A number of the hostages taken from Nir Oz are Argentinian citizens.  

Milei has sent a bill to Argentina‘s Congress demanding the release of all hostages, including Argentinian citizensm and is working to declare Hamas a terror organization.

Milei strongly condemned Hamas during his visit.

“We strongly condemned the terrorist acts of the terrorist group Hamas, and we continue to reaffirm our solidarity towards the people and the State of Israel and our support for Israel’s right to legitimate self-defense,” President Milei said. 

“In Kibbutz Nir Oz, a beautiful community of peace-loving Israelis who dreamt and worked all their lives to develop the desert- to make it green and bloom- to extend our hands to our neighbors, the Palestinians in Gaza, and on 7 October, their neighbors came forward, broke their houses, broke their windows, broke down their doors, burned their homes,” President Mieli said.

“They cut, tied, abducted, raped, and killed so many of the members of the Kibbutz and so many of the citizens of Israel in this region,” he added.  This is “one of the most barbaric and sadistic terror attacks in modern times, especially since the Holocaust of the Jews in World War II. That is why we have the full right of self-defense, to protect our people and make sure that this will never happen again.”

“The free world can’t remain indifferent in this case, as we see clear examples of terrorism and antisemitism and what I would describe as 21st Century Nazism,” Milei said. “When we hear about the methods that were used this time, it reminds us of the atrocities of the Holocaust.”

Milei joined with President Herzog in calling for the immedeiate release of the Israeli hostages.

If Argentina’s embassy to Israel does appear, it will be the sixth country to have an embassy in Israel’s capital. Currently, the United States, Guatemala, Honduras, Papua New Guinea and Kosovo have embassies in Jerusalem. Hungary and the Czech Republic, have embassy branches in the capital. In addition, the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem and the Indigenous Coalition for Israel (ICFI) also have embassies located in Jerusalem.

Mileik met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and members of the cabinet on Wednesday.

After his visit to Israel, Milei will travel to Italy where he is slated to meet  with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, and have a private audience with Pope Francis. While the Pope is Argentinian, the meeting may be less than amicable as Milei called the Pope “the evil one,” and an “imbecile” who “promotes communism” before his election. 

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