Argentina to Move Its Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem

Post by : Bianca Suleiman

Photo: Reuters

Argentinian President Javier Milei has announced that Argentina will move its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem in 2026. This shows strong support for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose government is facing criticism from many countries.

Right now, Argentina’s embassy is in Herzliya, which is just outside Tel Aviv. But while speaking in the Israeli parliament (called the Knesset) on Wednesday, President Milei proudly said, “Argentina will move its embassy to the city of West Jerusalem.” He also said, “Argentina stands with you during these hard times.”

Milei criticized the way many other countries are reacting to the situation in Gaza. He said, “Sadly, many countries are being fooled by terrorists and are blaming Israel when it is actually the victim.”

President Milei is visiting Israel for the second time since he became president in 2023. He said Argentina will keep asking for the release of all Israeli hostages being held in Gaza, including four who are also Argentinian citizens. These people were taken during the Hamas attacks on October 7, 2023.

Milei also spoke about Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg. She was recently detained and sent away by Israeli officials after she joined a group on a ship trying to break Israel’s blockade of Gaza. Thunberg has strongly spoken out against Israel, blaming them for war crimes and causing hunger in Gaza.

President Milei criticized Thunberg, saying, “She is just looking for media attention. She said she was kidnapped, but there are real hostages living in horrible conditions in Gaza.”

Israel is getting a lot of pressure from around the world because of the terrible situation in Gaza. Over 55,000 Palestinians have died since the war began more than 20 months ago.

This is not the first time Milei promised to move the embassy. He also said this during his first visit to Israel in February 2024. During that visit, he prayed at the Western Wall, a very holy place for Jews in Jerusalem.

Before Milei’s speech this week, Prime Minister Netanyahu said, “Jerusalem will never be divided again.”

The status of Jerusalem is a very sensitive topic. Israel says the whole city is its capital. But Palestinians want East Jerusalem to be the capital of their future country. Israel took control of East Jerusalem in 1967 during a war, and in 1980, they said the whole city belonged to them. The United Nations did not agree with this.

Because of this, most countries have their embassies in Tel Aviv to avoid upsetting peace talks. Only six countries — Guatemala, Honduras, Kosovo, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, and the United States — currently have embassies in Jerusalem.

In 2017, President Donald Trump surprised the world by recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. The U.S. embassy moved there in 2018. This upset many people and countries, especially Palestinians. But even after Trump left office, President Joe Biden did not change this decision. The U.S. still sees Jerusalem as Israel’s capital today.