Thirty-two years after the AMIA bombing killed 85 people and wounded more than 300, Argentina renewed its demand for justice, accusing Iran and its Hezbollah terror proxy of carrying out the deadliest terror attack in the country’s history. The 1994 bombing targeted the AMIA Jewish community center in Buenos Aires, where a suicide bomber detonated a van packed with explosives in one of the world’s deadliest attacks against a Jewish community outside Israel.

At the Buenos Aires memorial ceremony, President Javier Milei met former Hamas hostage Iair Horn, an Israeli-Argentine who was kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7 and held in Gaza for 498 days. His brother, Eitan Horn, remained in Hamas captivity for 737 days before his release, underscoring the continuing threat posed by Iran-backed terrorist groups.

Speaking at a parallel ceremony in Jerusalem, Argentina’s Ambassador Shimon Axel Wahnish called the AMIA bombing “an attack against humanity as a whole,” saying it was part of the same global campaign of terrorism. Argentine officials also praised Milei’s hardline stance against Tehran, including his designation of Hamas and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as terrorist organizations and his continued push to hold those responsible for the AMIA massacre accountable

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Argentina’s President Javier Milei and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sign Isaac Accords, aimed at bringing together Israel and the Western Hemisphere on the basis of a shared “Judeo-Christian tradition.”

By World Israel News Staff

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Argentine President Javier Milei on Sunday announced the launch of the “Isaac Accords,” a new framework aimed at expanding cooperation between Israel, Argentina and other countries across the Americas.

According to the announcement, the initiative is meant to bring together “like-minded nations” rooted in the “Judeo-Christian tradition” and committed to “defending freedom, democracy, and the struggle against terrorism, antisemitism, and drug trafficking.”

The framework is expected to focus heavily on security coordination.

The two governments said participating countries will work to increase cooperation against terrorist groups, with particular emphasis on “Iran’s attempts to expand its terrorist network and presence throughout the Western Hemisphere.”

The launch ceremony was attended by US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee.

The initiative was described as drawing inspiration from President Donald Trump’s “Abraham Accords,” with the statement saying ties between the United States, Israel and Argentina “have never been stronger.”

At the event, Netanyahu said he hopes the new framework can grow beyond the initial partnership.

“Just as we had the model of the Abraham Accords here for countries in the region interested in advancing peace and prosperity and security, the same can happen vis-à-vis our common goals, our common values in Latin America and it begins right here,” he said.

“This is our first step,” Netanyahu added.

Milei called the launch “a historic moment for our nations.”

“It will not only strengthen the relationship between Argentina and Israel, united by shared values, but also represents a step toward a freer and more prosperous hemisphere,” he said.

Huckabee also praised the partnership at the signing ceremony.

“I stand here alongside two of President Trump’s greatest allies,” he said. “I know of no leaders he respects more or with whom he has a closer personal bond.”

Alongside the accords announcement, Netanyahu and Milei also unveiled a new direct scheduled flight route between Israel and Argentina.

The governments said the route is intended to deepen economic ties, facilitate business activity, boost trade and investment, and expand tourism and travel access between Israel and Latin America.

Netanyahu highlighted the aviation breakthrough in his remarks.

“We have just passed the unimaginable free navigation, direct flight between Israel and Argentina, and we cut through all layers of bureaucracy,” he said.

There is “more to come,” he added.

A series of memoranda of understanding and agreements were also signed during the meeting at the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem.

They included an agreement on counterterrorism cooperation between the two foreign ministries, a memorandum on cooperation in artificial intelligence, and an amended aviation protocol updating a 2017 air services agreement between the two countries.

The revised aviation arrangement is meant to ease air links by allowing multiple designated carriers, setting rules for tariffs, and creating enforcement tools aimed at protecting competition.

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President Javier Milei tells the Knesset that Argentina will relocate its embassy to Jerusalem next year.

By World Israel News Staff

Argentina will open a new embassy in Jerusalem next year, President Javier Milei announced on Wednesday, replacing the existing facility in the city of Herzliya, north of Tel Aviv.

Milei made the announcement during his three-day visit to Israel, while addressing the Knesset during a special plenum session called in his honor.

“In 2026 we will make effective the move of our embassy to the city of west Jerusalem.”

The Argentinian president also reiterated his demand that Hamas release the remaining hostages held in Gaza, including four with Argentinian citizenship.

Milei lamented international pressure on Israel to relent in its war on the Gaza terror group.

“Argentina stands by you in these difficult days,” Milei said. “Unfortunately, the same cannot be said about a large part of the international community that is being manipulated by terrorists and turning victims into perpetrators.”

“How does the world allow a murderous terrorist organization to continue to hold innocent civilians hostage?”

“When the sides are good and evil, there is no moral equality here.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lauded Milei as a “true friend” of Israel.

“Javier, you are a true friend. With this visit, we are bringing our relations to new heights. 12,000 kilometers separate Buenos Aires, Israel and the Knesset in Jerusalem,” Netanyahu said. “This great distance is compensated for by the closeness of our hearts.”

Milei, a long-time supporter of Israel, suggested during his first state visit to Israel in February 2024 – three months after taking office – that his government could relocate Argentina’s embassy from Herzliya to Jerusalem.

Opposition Leader Yair Lapid (Yesh Atid) praised Milei in Spanish in the Knesset plenum.

“Since the prime minister does not know Spanish, I can tell you in secret that we disagree on almost everything. But there are two things on which we agree.”

“The first is that Jews have the right to defend themselves. Israel will not surrender or bend. Neither in the face of terrorism nor in the face of lies,” said the opposition leader. “The second is that your friendship and support for Israel move us all.”

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Milei has pledged to move the Argentine embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

By Etgar Lefkovits, TPS

Argentine President Javier Milei will visit Israel in February, becoming the first Latin American leader to come to the Jewish state since the war against Hamas in Gaza began.

The solidarity trip, part of one of his first tours abroad since taking office in December, signals a major shift in Argentine policy towards the United States and Israel after decades of pro-Arab support.

A very public philo-semite who studies with a rabbi, Milei has pledged to move the Argentine embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

During his visit, which is scheduled for February 5-9, Milei is slated to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Isaac Herzog in Jerusalem and pray at the Western Wall. His office is also considering a tour of border-area kibbutzim attacked by Hamas during the terrorist group’s Oct. 7 massacre and are planning a meeting with Argentinians living in Israel who were among those targeted in the attack.

Netanyahu had invited Milei to Jerusalem in a congratulatory phone call last month and called him a “true friend” of Israel.

An iconoclast and political outsider, Milei was elected in November amid a burgeoning economic crisis and inflation in Argentina that has topped 140%. A week after his election victory, he visited the U.S. for government meetings and stopped at the grave in New York of the late Lubavitcher Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, in his third such visit last year.

Milei has said that he would work to have Argentina designate Hamas as a terrorist organization.

“I want to emphasize our complete solidarity with the people of Israel following the terrorist acts committed by the terrorist organization Hamas,” Milei told then-Foreign Minister Eli Cohen in a meeting in Buenos Aires last month along with relatives of hostages being held by Hamas in Gaza. “I support Israel’s full right to defend itself against those terrorist attacks.”

His staunch support for Israel both ditches decades of unequivocal backing for Arab countries in the predominantly Catholic Latin American nation under both left- and right-wing governments and contrasts with neighboring Brazil, whose leftist leader, President Lula da Silva, has been highly critical of Israel’s war in Gaza.

After he visits Israel, Milei will travel to the Vatican for a meeting with the pope and to attend the beatification ceremony for a nun.

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