Milei confirms in Israel his plan to move the Argentine embassy to Jerusalem

Salt Emergui Jerusalem

Jerusalem

Updated Tuesday, February 6, 2024-7:00 p.m.

At the beginning of his promised visit to Israel, the president of Argentina, Javier Milei, has combined two of the declared facets of his agenda (spiritual and diplomatic) in a country that is immersed in its longest war since 1948. Shortly after Upon landing and before being received by the Israeli president,

Isaac Herzog

, the Argentine leader prayed and was moved before the ancient stones of

the Western Wall in Jerusalem

. As he confirmed this Tuesday, he plans to move the embassy to the western part of this city.

Milei has never hidden his admiration for Israel

, his closeness to Judaism and his condemnation of the attack by the fundamentalist group Hamas 123 days ago that unleashed the

massive Israeli military operation in the Gaza Strip

. All of this has been condensed into a few seconds at Ben Gurion Airport.

"I want to say thank you for choosing the State of Israel, the Holy Land, as your first visit. It strengthens us against the Hamas murderers after what they did," said the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Israel Katz, at the foot of the steps of the plane of the Israeli company El Al. After thanking him for "recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Israel," he admitted that they hope he will officially declare the transfer of the embassy to Jerusalem. The Foreign Affairs statement about Katz's welcome ends in Spanish: "

Viva La Libertad Carajo!

"

"For me it is a great pleasure and an honor to be here. I am keeping my promise that my first visit will be Israel," responded Milei, who reiterated his support "for Israel against the Hamas terrorists. My support for the people of Israel and defending the legitimate defense of Israel and obviously it is my plan to move the embassy to West Jerusalem. In this way,

Argentina will follow the step adopted by the United States

, Guatemala, Kosovo, Honduras and Papua New Guinea.

The Israeli Prime Minister,

Benjamin Netanyahu

, who meets this Wednesday with Milei, was quick to thank him for his words and unite the flags of the two countries in the X network. In Israel, two statements from the new Argentine leader are expected: the one announcing the transfer of the embassy and the one that declares Hamas as a terrorist group.

The one who was not slow to react was Hamas. After "strongly condemning and deploring" the intention to move the embassy, ​​the Islamists denounce that it is "a violation of the rights of our Palestinian people in their land and a violation of the norms of international law that consider Jerusalem as land occupied Palestine". The eastern part, occupied by Israel in the '67 war and annexed in 1980, is demanded by Palestinian President

Abu Mazen

as the capital of his future State.

On his three-day visit, Milei is accompanied by the Secretary General of the Presidency, his sister Karina, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Diana Mondino, and the designated ambassador to Israel, Rabbi Shimon Axel Wahnish.

Until a few months ago, Milei was unknown to most Israelis. Today it is not due to his election as president of one of the most beloved countries in Israel, where there is an important community of Argentine origin, due to his peculiar style, his famous closeness to the Jewish religion and his messages in favor of Israel that do not include no

buts

. Milei is the first head of state from Latin America to visit this country since the start of the war. In everything related to the current and massive war conflict and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in general, he is at the opposite end, for example, of other American presidents such as the Chilean

Gabriel Boric

or the Colombian

Gustavo Petro

.

Beyond visiting the Wailing Wall, the Holy Sepulcher or the Holocaust Museum, Milei plans to tour the Nir Oz

kibbutz

this Thursday , one of the most attacked by Hamas on October 7. The fact that the list of murdered and hostages includes Israelis with Argentine nationality makes their identification even greater if possible. During this visit, she will meet again with relatives of the 11 kidnapped Argentines. The most famous are the brothers Kfir and Ariel Bibas who were kidnapped when they were nine months and four years old respectively along with their parents Shiri and Yarden. Hamas claims that the first three were killed in an Israeli attack in the Gaza Strip.

"I am very happy that President Milei is visiting Israel, that he strengthens ties and that he continues to condemn the terrorist group Hamas. Of course, the most important things are what he does in Argentina, but having a president who is close to the Jewish people makes me happy "admits Argentine journalist Hernán Feler, who became the voice of his aunt Ofelia Roitman (77 years old) during the 53 days in her lonely and harsh captivity. The television and radio announcer began each broadcast of soccer matches in Argentina by remembering his aunt and the rest of the kidnapped people. The Argentine was released within the framework of the truce agreement at the end of November.

"She was not just my aunt, but everyone's aunt. I decided to talk about the kidnapped people and condemn what the terrorist group did without entering into politics. They told me that I was the voice in Argentina of the kidnapped people, but many people did very very things. important, although without the visibility that I could have," Feler tells EL MUNDO, indicating that there was compression in his country "except for example on Twitter (now called X), where there is a lot of hate and after a message about October 7 condemning Hamas they told me everything from "shitty Jew" to "Hitler fell short."

"The memory I always had of my uncles and cousins ​​who live in Israel near the Gaza Strip is that they think and defend peace," says the sports journalist, who, along with other members of the Jewish community of Buenos Aires, met in December with Milei on the occasion of the visit of the Israeli Foreign Minister.

Before starting a trip that will also take him to Italy and the Vatican, Milei responded to Infobae about the reason for his visit: "To fulfill my promise to make my first diplomatic trip to Israel and express my support for Israel against the group's attacks. terrorist Hamas, to make explicit my solidarity with Israel and to vindicate its legitimate right to defense. In addition to continuing to deepen our commercial ties, especially due to so much affection."