Netanyahu Invites Argentina’s President-Elect Javier Milei to Visit Israel

Argentine President-elect Javier Milei addresses supporters after winning Argentina's runoff presidential election, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on Nov. 19, 2023. Agustin Marcarian/Reuters

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has invited Argentine President-elect Javier Milei to visit Israel and thanked him for his plan to move Argentina’s embassy to Jerusalem.

Mr. Netanyahu held a phone conversation on Dec. 4 with Mr. Milei, during which he congratulated Mr. Milei on his election win and thanked him for supporting Israel in its war against Hamas terrorists in Gaza.

The Israeli leader also called Mr. Milei “a true friend of the Jewish people,” according to the prime minister’s office.

“Prime Minister Netanyahu also thanked President-elect Milei for his intention to move the Argentinian Embassy to Jerusalem, and invited him to visit Israel,” his office stated on X, formerly known as Twitter.

The libertarian economist, rock star, and national lawmaker won Argentina’s Nov. 19 election by a landslide, securing over 55.7 percent of the vote. Mr. Milei is expected to take office on Dec. 10.

Mr. Milei said during his election campaign in November that he intended to move the country’s embassy to Jerusalem. He had also expressed in an earlier address that he intended to “convert to Judaism” and aspired “to become the first Jewish president in Argentine history.”

He traveled to the United States just one week after winning the election and paid a visit to the tomb of a well-known orthodox Jewish rabbi. The economist has repeatedly said he will take a strongly pro-Israel stance on foreign policy.

Most Embassies in Tel Aviv

Only a handful of countries have embassies in Jerusalem, with most others maintaining diplomatic representation in the economic hub of Tel Aviv.  In 2018, President Donald Trump moved the United States embassy to Jerusalem.

While Israel considers Jerusalem its eternal and indivisible capital and wants all embassies based there, most of the world does not recognize Israeli sovereignty over the entire city.

Palestinians want the capital of an independent state of theirs to be in the city’s eastern sector, which Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed in a move never recognized internationally.

The Israel-Hamas war was triggered by Hamas’ unprecedented terror attack on Oct. 7. The war resumed on Dec. 1 after a weeklong truce brokered by Egypt, Qatar, and the United States, during which Hamas freed 110 hostages in exchange for 240 Palestinian prisoners.

Throughout the election campaign, Mr. Milei, who leads the La Libertad Avanza (Liberty Advances) coalition, vowed to “put an end to the parasitic and useless political caste that is destroying this country.”

Among his other pledges were to drastically cut government spending, eliminate the nation’s central bank, deregulate private gun ownership, and use the U.S. dollar as the country’s currency.

“Argentina’s situation is critical. The changes our country needs are drastic. There is no room for gradualism, no room for lukewarm measures,” Mr. Milei said on Nov. 19.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Nov. 19 offered congratulations to Mr. Milei, adding in a statement that “we applaud the robust democratic process through which the Argentine public has spoken.”

Former President Trump, to whom Mr. Milei has often been compared, also extended his congratulations to Argentina’s new president-elect in a social media post on Nov. 20.

“The whole world was watching! I am very proud of you. You will turn your country around and truly Make Argentina Great Again!” he stated on X.

Stephen Katte and Reuters contributed to this report.