Milei heads to Israel as Middle East ceasefire clock ticks down

President Javier Milei will depart Argentina for Israel on Saturday for his third trip as head of state, during which he will meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and receive the nation’s highest civilian honour.

Netanyahu is one of Milei’s two main geopolitical allies, alongside US President Donald Trump. The Argentine leader’s trip comes amid a regional ceasefire in the Middle East, which is set to expire on April 22 – the day he is due to return to Buenos Aires.

Milei is expected to arrive in Israel on Sunday, April 19. He will visit the Western Wall and hold talks with Netanyahu that day, before meeting Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Monday.

The trip includes a series of political and symbolic engagements. Milei is set to attend a pre-recorded ceremony marking Israel’s 78th Independence Day – the traditional torch-lighting event at Mount Herzl – and is due to receive an honorary doctorate from Bar-Ilan University.

He is also scheduled to visit several religious sites in Jerusalem, including the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

The latest conflict in the Middle East began on February 28, when the United States and Israel launched airstrikes against Iran. Tehran responded with bombardments targeting Israel and Gulf countries hosting US bases.

Trump said on Friday there were "no sticking points" left for a peace deal with Iran, which he said was "very close" as Tehran declared the Strait of Hormuz open to commercial shipping.

The positive signals from Washington came as a ceasefire went into effect in Lebanon, raising hopes that two of the main obstacles to a US-Iran agreement could have been cleared.

"We're very close. Looks like it's going to be very good for everybody. And we're very close to having a deal," Trump said in a brief telephone call with the AFP news agency.

"The strait's going to be open, they already are open. And things are going very well," he added.

The ceasefire and the reopening of the strait represent a key step in Washington's efforts to reach a deal to end its war with Iran, after Tehran insisted that halting the Lebanon fighting must be part of any agreement.

Iran 'enemy of the entire West'

In an interview with Israel’s Channel 14 broadcast on Thursday previewing his trip, Milei described Iran as “an enemy of the entire West” and praised Trump and Netanyahu as “determined to put an end to this scourge on humanity.”

Since taking office, Milei has reorientated Argentina’s foreign policy towards alignment with the United States and Israel. 

Earlier this month, his government expelled Iran’s chargé d’affaires in Buenos Aires, Mohsen Soltani Tehrani, in response to a statement from the Iranian Foreign Ministry containing what it called “false, offensive and inappropriate accusations.”

His administration has also designated Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the Quds Force as terrorist organisations, in line with Washington’s stance.

Milei’s government has repeatedly criticised Iran’s “persistent refusal” to cooperate with the courts in the investigation into the 1994 bombing of the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association (AMIA) Jewish community centre, as well as its failure to comply with international arrest and extradition orders.

Argentina’s Judiciary attributes the planning of the AMIA bombing, which killed 85 people, to Iran, and holds Hezbollah responsible for the 1992 attack on the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires, which left 22 dead – also carried out with Iranian backing, according to multiple investigations.

Both attacks remain officially unsolved, though efforts to prosecute suspects in absentia are ongoing.

– TIMES/AFP/NA