Argentina’s president pledges to move embassy to Jerusalem: Israel

By Abdelraouf Arnaout

JERUSALEM (AA) – Israel said Tuesday that Argentinian President Javier Milei has pledged to move his country’s embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

Milei arrived in Israel on Tuesday for his first official visit to the country since he assumed office in December. He was welcomed by Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz upon arrival at Ben Gurion Airport.

According to a statement by the Israeli Foreign Ministry, the Argentinian president said he will relocate his country’s embassy to Jerusalem.

“It is no wonder that you chose to come to Israel right away to support us in the just struggle for the defense of the Jewish people” against Hamas, Katz told Milei.

Milei is set to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Isaac Herzog during his visit. He will also visit the Western Wall [Al-Buraq Wall] of the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex in occupied East Jerusalem.

"I congratulate my friend, Argentine President Javier Milei, on the decision to move the embassy to Jerusalem,” Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said on X.

Jerusalem remains at the heart of the decades-long Middle East conflict, with Palestinians insisting that East Jerusalem – illegally occupied by Israel since 1967 – should serve as the capital of a Palestinian state.

Very few countries have moved their embassies from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, including the US, Kosovo, Guatemala, Honduras, and Papua New Guinea.

*Writing by Mohammad Sio