Netanyahu, Herzog host Milei amid deepening Israel ties

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday called Argentine President Javier Milei a “real friend” of the Jewish state during a meeting between the two leaders at Netanyahu’s office in Jerusalem.

Milei, one of Israel’s most vocal supporters, received a warm welcome from Netanyahu on his second state visit to Israel in as many years. According to Netanyahu’s office, Milei praised the premier’s leadership in managing the complex, multi-front conflict and reaffirmed Argentina’s steadfast support for Israel and the righteousness of its cause.

“He added that Israel’s victory in the war would constitute a victory for the entire Western world,” the statement from Netanyahu’s office noted.

Netanyahu, in turn, commended Milei—who is also an economist—for implementing a market-driven economy in Argentina, noting that this approach had significantly advanced the country’s prosperity and driven meaningful change.

“The two leaders agreed to continue being in close personal contact and to increase bilateral cooperation,” the statement concluded.

Milei also met with Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Tuesday in Jerusalem, where he was welcomed with a special ceremony at the President’s Residence that included an honor guard and the playing of both national anthems.

“The partnership between our countries, especially in the fight against antisemitism and terror, is critical,” Herzog emphasized, according to his spokesperson.

Israel, said Milei, “in its rejection of the cowardly surrender in the face of terrorism is currently a lighthouse shining a light on the path of freedom.”

On Tuesday night, the Israel Defense Forces shot down a ballistic missile launched at Israel by the Iranian-backed Houthi terrorist organization from Yemen.

“I strongly suggest that when you comment on what’s happening in Israel, you keep in mind what it’s like to live under this situation … I just saw this from the hotel where I’m staying in Jerusalem,” Milei wrote on X. He included a map of areas in Israel where sirens sounded, a picture of the missile, and a video of the interception, tagging Netanyahu and Herzog in the post.

The 54-year-old Buenos Aires native’s visit began on Monday with an emotional pledge at Jerusalem’s Western Wall to “always stand” with the Jewish state, which he called “the cause of the West.”

Milei, who came directly to the Western Wall upon his arrival from Spain, was greeted at the site by cheers and songs of support.

Accompanying Milei were Argentina’s Ambassador to Israel Axel Wahnish—his personal rabbi with whom he studied the Bible before his election—Argentine Foreign Minister Gerardo Werthein and Milei’s sister, Karina Milei, who serves as secretary general to the presidency.

The official four-day visit will include a meeting with Argentine-Israeli victims of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas massacre, a keynote address at Israel’s parliament on Wednesday, and a lecture at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem on Thursday.

Milei will also be awarded the Genesis Prize and, as first reported in JNS, is scheduled to announce long-awaited direct flights between Buenos Aires and Tel Aviv.

Milei has broken with decades of Argentine foreign policy by siding firmly with Israel since taking office in December 2023, propelling relations between the two nations to unprecedented heights. Diplomatic ties between the countries were first established 75 years ago.

Last year, in his first official trip as president, Milei paid a wartime solidarity visit to Israel, where he reiterated his pledge to move Argentina’s embassy to Jerusalem.

An iconoclast and political outsider, Milei was elected in November 2023 amid an economic crisis and skyrocketing inflation that has long plagued the South American country, which is now making major strides toward recovery under his leadership.

A week after his election victory, he visited the United States for government meetings, stopping at the grave in New York of the Lubavitcher Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson—his third such visit that year.

Since taking office, Milei has listed Hamas as a terrorist organization and called out Iran’s terrorism, vowing to try in absentia Iranian suspects in the 1994 bombing of the AMIA Jewish Community Center in Buenos Aires.

Earlier this year, Milei declared two days of national mourning for the Bibas children—Ariel, 4, and nine-month-old Kfir—who were murdered in captivity by Palestinian terrorists in Gaza, along with their mother, Shiri. The family, which held Israeli, Argentine, and German citizenship, had become symbols of the plight of the 251 hostages abducted by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023.

© JNS