The Argentine government announced this Tuesday that it will move its embassy in Israel to the city of Jerusalem. The Argentine government is showing its support the State of Israel, in the same way that Donald Trump's administration did. The announcement was made during President Javier Milei's visit.
Throughout said visit, President Milei claimed that "obviously it is my plan to move the embassy [Argentina] to West Jerusalem," while meeting with the Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs, Israel Katz, at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv. The current Argentine embassy is located near Tel Aviv.
Milei has stated his support for the State of Israel and its right to defend itself. Milei has maintained his stance throughout his entire campaign and now that he has taken office he can put it into practice. This is Milei's second trip since taking office. He has another trip planned to the Vatican and Italy.
A select club
If Javier Milei keeps his promise, Argentina will become part of the small group of countries that have an embassy in Jerusalem instead of Tel Aviv. This shortlist is currently made up of Papua New Guinea, Guatemala and the United States.
Countries that do not have their diplomatic mission in Jerusalem do so because the majority of them do not recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, even though the country declared it as such in 1950. The Palestinian Authority, which is trying to create a state, also claims the eastern part of the city of Jerusalem as its own and as its capital.
Argentina has the largest Jewish community in all of Latin America. A good number of Argentine Jews also emigrated to Israel after it was declared a state. Milei is scheduled to meet with President Isaac Herzog and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
He will also visit the remains of one of the kibbutz that was attacked during the Hamas attack on October 7. After more meetings with members of Israeli civil society, he will travel to Rome for two more visits.
