Milei confirms in Israel that he will move the Argentine embassy to Jerusalem

Just a few seconds after setting foot in Israel, in his first bilateral visit as president of Argentina, Javier Milei has reiterated his intention to declare Hamas a terrorist organization and move the country's embassy to Jerusalem, a controversial decision that only five countries have made, including them United States during the Donald Trump Administration. He did so in a brief conversation with the Israeli Foreign Minister, Israel Katz, who received him this Tuesday in front of the plane steps. For Milei, it is the fulfillment of two promises: moving the embassy and making the Jewish State his first official visit to another country since he took office last December. For Israel, this is a diplomatic respite in the midst of the war in Gaza, which is deteriorating the country's international image: not everyone wants to be photographed shaking hands with their leaders.

Milei has not formally announced the embassy move. She is expected to do so in the next two days, after her meetings with the president, Isaac Herzog, or with the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. The Israeli authorities have been quick, however, to issue statements of joy, taking it for granted.

A few minutes after landing, Netanyahu's office expressed its “satisfaction” with the fact that Milei “has kept his promise” and “announced the transfer of the Argentine embassy to Jerusalem”, currently located in the town of Herzliya, al north of Tel Aviv. “Thank you for recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and for now announcing the transfer of the Argentine embassy to Jerusalem, capital of the Jewish people and the State of Israel,” said the Foreign Minister. Hamas has “strongly condemned” the decision, which places Argentina “as a partner of the Zionist occupier [Israel] in their violations against our Palestinian people and their national rights.”

Argentina will thus become the second most important country with an embassy in Jerusalem. Almost all States have it in Tel Aviv (which is not the capital) or in nearby towns, considering that doing so in Jerusalem would mean taking a position on the status of the city, which both parties will have to decide in eventual peace negotiations. . The Palestinians aspire to convert the eastern part of the city – occupied by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War and later annexed – into the capital of their future state.

Since Trump moved the US embassy to Jerusalem and recognized the city as the capital of Israel in 2018, in a decision that broke with decades of foreign policy and that his successor, Joe Biden, has maintained, only Guatemala, Honduras, Kosovo and Papua New Guinea They have emulated it. Other countries, such as Paraguay or Australia, did so, but later reversed the decision.

Already on the plane on the way, Milei declared the objective of his trip, which will last three days: “I am going to express my support for Israel against the attacks of the terrorist group Hamas, my solidarity with Israel and to defend its legitimate right to defense.” . It is the political dimension, to which is added another “spiritual” dimension, as she has admitted. Milei was raised Catholic, but has been approaching Judaism for years and has frequently announced his intention to convert. He could be seen at his first stop, the Western Wall in Jerusalem, where he burst into tears with emotion and hugged his rabbi, Axel Wahnish, whom he intends to appoint as ambassador to Israel. He also lit a candle in commemoration of those killed in the Hamas attack on October 7.

Milei wore on his lapel the yellow ribbon of the movement for the return of the 136 Israeli hostages remaining in Gaza, 31 of whom are dead, two more than the previous estimate, as revealed this Tuesday by the Israeli military spokesman, Daniel Hagari. Three countries (Qatar, Egypt and the United States) have been mediating their exchange for several weeks of ceasefire, the release of numerous Palestinian prisoners and the entry of more humanitarian aid to the Strip. The Secretary of State of the United States, Antony Blinken, on tour in the region to try to achieve a truce, has assured in Doha that he will analyze with the authorities of Israel, where he will land this Wednesday, the response of Hamas to the proposal of agreement. “There is much work to be done, but we continue to believe that an agreement is possible and, indeed, essential,” he declared. Next to him, the Prime Minister of Qatar, Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, has described the response provided by the Islamist movement as “positive”, although the details have not yet been finalized. The proposal has also been transmitted by the Qatari mediator to Mossad, Israel's secret service abroad. Its details “are being carefully evaluated by officials participating in the negotiations,” the prime minister's office said. US President Joe Biden has said that it is “a little excessive”, but also that he sees “some movement” on the matter. The main difference is that Hamas has been demanding a permanent ceasefire, while Netanyahu's government categorically rejects it.

Selfies

In his purest style, the Argentine president approached to take selfies with the dozens of people (many of them originally from Argentina, the Latin American country with the largest Jewish community) who cheered him on, shouting ““Am Israel Jai” (The people of Israel live, in Hebrew) and “Long live freedom, damn it!”, the phrase that Milei repeated shouting to conclude his inauguration speech. One gave him an Argentine national team shirt with the number 10 and the words Javier Milei written in Hebrew; another shouted at him that he had left the military base (there are hundreds of thousands of Israelis mobilized) just to be able to see him.

Milei will not only meet with Netanyahu and Herzog. She also with several ministers, rabbis, businessmen and relatives of victims of the Hamas attack. Additionally, she will plant a tree in the Jewish National Fund's Forest of Nations. It is a protocol act, but he will be the first president to do so since the start of the war in Gaza.

On Friday he will arrive in Rome to meet with the Italian Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni; the president, Sergio Mattarella, and Pope Francis, in the Vatican, where he will attend the canonization of the nun María Antonia de Paz y Figueroa, nicknamed Mama Antula, who will become the first Catholic saint in Argentina. The audience with the Pope will predictably cause something to talk about. Milei even called him “imbecile” and “left-handed” [izquierdista] disgusting” to Francis, who has not visited his native country since he was named Pope in 2013. Milei has apologized for the insults and invited Francis to the country, who is considering doing so in the second half of this year.

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