President Javier Milei will travel at the end of the month to Israel, where he hopes to ink a memorandum on security and defence collaboration.
Milei, 54, will depart Buenos Aires on March 23, flying to Tel Aviv, confirmed Argentina’s Ambassador to Israel, Rabbi Axel Wahnish.
It will be his second visit to Israel since taking office in December 2023. Milei’s previous visit was in February 2024 and included a bilateral meeting with Netanyahu and a visit to the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem – a moment that moved the President to tears.
Wahnish said the head of state will travel with his sister, Presidential Chief-of-Staff Karina Milei, and Foreign Minister Gerardo Werthein.
The trip could include a meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Argentina’s President – who is a staunch supporter of the state of Israel – has also been invited to give a speech to the Knesset, Israel's Parliament, added the envoy.
Argentina hopes to sign a “Memorandum of Freedom and Democracy” on cooperation in security and defence against terrorism, given the closeness between the two nations that has deepened since Milei took office in December 2023.
“There is a great deal of enthusiasm and excitement to move forward with projects of cooperation and collaboration in the areas of innovation, technology, defence and security,” said Wahnish in an interview this week with the Clarín newspaper.
In last weekend’s state of the nation address to Congress, marking the opening of Congress sessions, Milei vowed to show “no mercy” to terrorism and revealed his administration is working on a new national security.
“We are working on a national security law that provides tools to the national state, to our intelligence service and to our forces to pursue those who want to threaten the lives of Argentines,” Milei told the Legislative Assembly.
Last week, the President declared two days of mourning following the confirmed death of Israeli-Argentine children Ariel and Kfir Bibas, whose bodies were handed over to Israel 17 months after they were taken hostage by Hamas militants on October 7, 2023.
Netanyahu followed that announcement by thanking Milei for his “unwavering integrity and outstanding leadership,” stating the move should “serve as an inspiration to all leaders of the civilised world.”
During his first year in office, Milei promised to move Argentina’s Embassy to Jerusalem, echoing in the footsteps of US President Donald Trump, who did so with his nation’s diplomatic outpost in 2018.
That vow has not yet come to fruition, though Wahnish has established his diplomatic residence in the city.
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