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 the Argentine president "has kept his promise" and "announced the transfer of the Argentine embassy to Jerusalem", currently located in the town of Herzliya. , 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.

Thank you, Mr. President @JMilei for your statement regarding the transfer of the Argentine embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, the Capital 🇮🇱🇦🇷

Long live Libertad Carajo!

pic.twitter.com/h1VO2kNuAs

— ישראל כ”ץ Israel Katz (@Israel_katz) February 6, 2024

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 grew up Catholic, but he came to Judaism years ago 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, whose exchange for several weeks of ceasefire, the release of numerous Palestinian prisoners and the entry of more humanitarian aid to the Strip leads weeks negotiating three mediating countries.

One of them is the United States and its Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, on tour in the region to try to unblock the truce, has assured in Doha that he will share with the Israeli authorities, where he will land this Wednesday, Hamas's response to the agreement proposal.

“Much work remains to be done, but we continue to believe that an agreement is possible and, indeed, essential.”

At his side, Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, the prime minister of Qatar (another of the mediating countries), has described the response provided by the Islamist movement as “positive”, although the details have not yet been finalized.

Selfies

In his purest style, the Argentine president approached to take selfies with 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

”

(El 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.

Javier Milei, during his visit to the Wailing Wall.ATEF SAFADI (EFE)

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 leave for Rome to meet with the Italian Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, and Pope Francis, at the Vatican.

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