Buenos Aires – The president left this Monday on a tour whose first destination is Israel, where he will meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and which includes an audience with Pope Francis in the Vatican.
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Before taking off from Buenos Aires, the president expressed his support and solidarity with Israel in the face of “the attacks of the terrorist group Hamas.” The visit will serve “to express my solidarity with Israel and defend its right to self-defense, and to continue deepening our ties,” he told reporters.
He is accompanied on the trip by Foreign Minister Diana Mondino, as well as her sister and Secretary General of the Presidency, Karina Milei, and Rabbi Axel Wahnish, appointed ambassador to Israel.
Milei will arrive in Tel Aviv on Tuesday afternoon and visit the Western Wall, in what he defined as “the spiritual part” of his visit. A 53-year-old economist, Milei was educated Catholic and became interested in Judaism in recent years, although without converting.
On Wednesday he will meet in Jerusalem with the president of Israel, Isaac Herzog, and then with Prime Minister Netanyahu, to whom he will confirm “first-hand”, he anticipated, his “position adopted in international terms.”
Milei declared the United States and Israel as priority allies of his government and has publicly condemned the “atrocious and unforgivable” violence of the Islamist group Hamas, referring to the October 7 attack. On Thursday she will visit a kibbutz and hold a meeting with relatives of those kidnapped by Hamas.
An appointment with the Italian Prime Minister and another with the Pope
In Rome, the Argentine Minister of the Interior, Guillermo Francos, the Minister of Human Capital, Sandra Pettovello, and the Secretary of Worship, Francisco Sánchez, will join his delegation.
Milei will attend the canonization mass of Blessed Maria Antonia of St. Joseph, Mama Antula, at St. Peter's Basilica on February 11, where he and Pope Francis are expected to greet each other for the first time. The next day, he will be received in audience by the Supreme Pontiff.
In the past, Milei disqualified the pope with insulting comments, calling him an “imbecile” and defining him as “the representative of evil on Earth,” in addition to accusing him of “seeking to spread communism.”
But later, in a presidential debate, he claimed to have apologized to the pope. In late January, Francisco, 87, said he would receive Milei and assured that he had not been offended by her comments.
After meeting with Pope Francis, on Monday he plans to meet with Prime Minister Meloni and the Italian president, Sergio Mattarella.
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