In the footsteps of Donald Trump.
Argentine President Javier Milei began his first foreign visit to Israel on Tuesday with a controversial declaration, announcing as soon as he got off the plane in Tel Aviv his highly sensitive "project" to move his embassy to Jerusalem. country, currently located near Tel Aviv, as is the case in the United States in 2018.
“My plan is to move the embassy to West Jerusalem,” declared Javier Milei, received on the tarmac by the Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs, Israel Katz.
The office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomed this announcement, noting that the Argentine head of state “kept his promises” in this area.
“Welcome dear friend!
“, he wrote on the social network X.
Shortly after, the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, in power in Gaza and at war with Israel since October 7, “strongly condemned” this announcement, calling it a “violation of the rights” of Palestinians and “international law”.
A move is not on the agenda
Javier Milei had already announced this intention in his country.
Argentina would thus become one of the very rare countries to have such diplomatic representation with Israel in this city, a key issue in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The ultraliberal Argentine president indicated before his departure that Israel would be the first foreign country he would visit, calling it a natural “great ally” like the United States.
This proposed move was not on the immediate agenda, however, in a context of conflict, Diana Mondino, who has since become his head of diplomacy, suggested in November.
Javier Milei did not give any date on Tuesday.
Acclaimed at the Western Wall
Almost all countries maintaining a formal diplomatic presence with the Israeli authorities have their embassy in Tel Aviv.
Only Papua New Guinea, Guatemala, Honduras, Kosovo and the United States have an embassy in Jerusalem.
The partition plan for Palestine voted by the UN in 1947 provided for a special, international status for Jerusalem because of its importance for Jews, Christians and Muslims.
But at the end of the first Arab-Israeli war, the city found itself cut in two, under Israeli control for its western part, and Jordanian for its eastern part.
Israel conquered East Jerusalem and annexed it in 1967 before proclaiming the “reunited” city as its “eternal” and “indivisible” capital in 1980, a decision that was not accepted by the United Nations, which still considers Jerusalem today Is like occupied Palestinian territory.
In the afternoon, Javier Milei visited the Western Wall in the Old City of Jerusalem.
Visibly moved, according to a video that he reposted on social network
🚨🇦🇷 |
EL PRESIDENT MILEI EMOCIONADO HASTA LAS LAGRIMAS EN EL MURO DE LOS LAMENTOS 🥺
pic.twitter.com/QE1OF7H1L6
— El Peluca Milei (@ElPelucaMilei) February 6, 2024
He was cheered by crowds as he arrived and departed from the Western Wall, with some shouting in Spanish: "Viva la libertad, carajo!"
» (long live freedom, damn it!), the president’s rallying cry.