Javier Milei, the libertarian elected as the next president of Argentina, announced that he will make two trips before taking office on December 10: one to the United States and another to Israel. The 53-year-old economist repeatedly declared his intention to get geopolitically closer to both countries and specifically to Israel. Indeed, he promised to move the Argentine embassy to Jerusalem and pray at the tomb of a historic rabbi before his inauguration ceremony.
The president-elect set out for New York on Friday, where, as he highlighted among his most important activities, he is praying at the tomb of Menachem Mendel Schneerson of Chabad, known as the Lubatavich Rebbe. Born in 1902, he was a leader of the Chabd-Lubavitch movement and is credited with "moral awakening to Judaism."
Milei visited his grave before the elections, where he asked him for strength to be able to reach the Casa Rosada. "The truth is that I did not get to know the Rebbe personally, but just last year I had the privilege of visiting the Rebbe's grave twice. There, I asked for his holy blessing to be elected president of Argentina and this blessing came true this week," explained the libertarian.
Presidente Milei, mes pasado:
No voy a la iglesia, voy a la sinagoga.
No sigo a un sacerdote, sigo a un rabino.
Aprendo Torá.
Soy conocido como amigo de Israel.
Además de alinearme con EEUU e Israel, quiero trasladar nuestra embajada a Jerusalem.🇦🇷🇮🇱pic.twitter.com/8h7WwqcMwv
— AleWeisselberger (@AleWeisse) November 20, 2023
Move the Argentine embassy to Jerusalem
During an interview with Kfar Chabad, Milei highlighted the history of Judaism and all the adversities it had to overcome to achieve and then maintain a state. "According to what I have learned, the history of the Jewish people defeated all threats of pogroms and subsequent attacks, and the people of Israel survived. My message is to trust in God and be strong and united," he indicated.
Regarding the embassy transfer to Jerusalem, he reaffirmed his intentions as president-elect in an interview. "I intend to fulfill my commitments. Jerusalem is the capital of Israel, and the move of the embassy to the Holy City symbolizes in my eyes our recognition of this fact. I hope and trust that many other countries in the world do the same," he expressed.
Milei's sympathy with Judaism
Long before he was elected president, when Milei was a television economist, he repeatedly confessed his interest in studying the Torah. It all started when he was giving private economics classes, and he was surprised by the way a student asked questions who confessed to him that he was Jewish. That initial interest would materialize later.
"A few years ago, a personal friend of mine from the Jewish community, Julio Goldstein, who is a political leader with similar views to mine, organized a meeting for me with his rabbi. He accompanied me to that meeting, he introduced me to his rabbi, he did not enter the meeting with me. In that meeting, which lasted quite a long time, I began to learn from him about the history of the people of Israel, about the Torah that was given to them in the Sinai desert, about the ideas of Kabbalah and the occult, and much more. I left that meeting very excited, and since then I began studying the Torah on a fairly regular basis. I will never forget how we (Julio Goldstein and I) simply started having conversations about specific Torah topics, and we fought among ourselves who knows more, him or me," Milei explained.
