President Javier Milei said Wednesday that Argentina would move its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem next year as he addressed the Knesset in a high-profile speech.
"I am proud to announce before you that in 2026 we will make effective the move of our Embassy to the city of west Jerusalem, as we promised," Milei said in a speech in the Israeli Parliament during an official state visit.
"Brothers and sisters of Israel: Argentina is with you in this difficult moment,” he added.
The status of diplomatic outposts is one of the most delicate issues in the Israel-Palestinian conflict. Argentina's Embassy is currently located in Herzliya near the coastal city of Tel Aviv.
This is Milei's second visit to Israel since being elected in 2023. His previous trip, in February 2024, was his first official state visit outside of Argentina.
He initially announced plans to move Argentina's Embassy to Jerusalem during that visit – a controversial move that echoed US President Donald Trump's shock 2017 decision to unilaterally recognise Jerusalem as Israel's capital.
Since taking office in December 2023, Mieli has reorientated Argentina’s foreign policy. He describes Israel and the United States as his “pillars.”
Israel has occupied east Jerusalem since 1967, later annexing it in a move not recognised by the international community.
Israel treats the city as its capital, while Palestinians want east Jerusalem to become the capital of a future state.
Most foreign embassies to Israel are located in the coastal hub city of Tel Aviv in order to avoid interfering with negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians over Jerusalem’s status.
The Palestine Partition Plan voted on by the UN in 1947 provided for a special, international status for Jerusalem given its importance to Jews, Christians, and Muslims.
But after the First Israeli-Arab War, the city was cut in two, with its western part under Israeli control and the eastern part under Jordanian control.
Speaking ahead of Milei's address to Parliament on Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said "the city of Jerusalem will never be divided again."
Several countries, including the United States, Paraguay, Guatemala, Honduras and Kosovo, have moved their embassies to Jerusalem, breaking with international consensus.
'Stand firm'
In 2017, during his first term as US president, Trump unilaterally recognised Jerusalem as Israel's capital, sparking Palestinian anger and the international community's disapproval.
The United States formally transferred its Embassy to Jerusalem in May 2018.
Milei, who has professed a deep interest in Judaism and studied Jewish scripture, is one of Israel's staunchest defenders.
"Just as it is being assaulted by barbaric despotisms of various kinds that have nothing to do with freedom and democracy, of which terrorism is its most atrocious face, it is also being poisoned by an internal and self-inflicted barbarism, which is the woke ideology with its moral relativism, which unbalances the moral compass and causes, among other things, global leaders to turn their backs on Israel," said Argentina’s President.
With his speech, he became the first Argentine head of state in 76 years to address the Knesset.
The session was opened by Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana , who called the president "the best friend Israel has ever had in the Casa Rosada."
Netanyahu’s government faces mounting international pressure over the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza after more than 20 months of war, but Milei reiterated his fierce support for Israel.
"As a nation, we want to stand firm alongside you as you go through these dark days, we will not yield to criticism resulting from cowardice or complicity with barbarism," he said on Tuesday during a meeting with Israeli President Isaac Herzog.
He also demanded the "unconditional return of the four Argentines still in captivity" in Gaza after Hamas's October 7, 2023, attack on Israel triggered the war.
“The free world cannot allow a terrorist organisation like Hamas to continue holding civilians hostage in inhumane conditions,” Milei said in his 32-minute speech.
“It is important to understand that we are in a battle between good and evil,” he declared.
The Palestinian militant group's attack resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to a tally of official figures by the AFP news agency.
The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza says the retaliatory Israeli military offensive has killed at least 55,104 people, the majority civilians. The United Nations considers these figures to be reliable, though Israel questions them.
Out of 251 taken hostage during the Hamas attack, 54 are still held in Gaza including 32 the Israeli military says are dead.
– TIMES/AFP/PERFIL
Comments