Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Argentina

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Argentina, home to Latin America's largest Jewish community: its Zionist institutions, the 1992 and 1994 bombings in Buenos Aires, arms sales to the military junta, and President Milei's alliance with the Zionist state

Argentina has the largest Jewish community in Latin America, put at about 173,000 people in 2024.[1] It recognised "Israel" in January 1949.[2] In 1992 the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires was bombed, and in 1994 a bomb destroyed the headquarters of the Asociación Mutual Israelita Argentina (AMIA), killing 85 people. Argentina's Federal Court of Cassation has attributed the AMIA attack to Hezbollah acting for Iran, and the United States blamed Hezbollah for the embassy bombing.[3] Under President Javier Milei, elected in 2023, Argentina has become one of the Zionist state's closest allies, and in April 2026 the two governments launched the "Isaac Accords".[4]

Jewish community and religious life

History

The World Jewish Congress (WJC) says waves of Jewish immigration began in 1854, and that the Israelite Congregation of Buenos Aires, founded in 1862, was the first Jewish institution in the country. From the 1880s Eastern European Jews arrived, and Baron Maurice de Hirsch's Jewish Colonization Association set up agricultural colonies. In 1894 Jewish organisations united in what became the AMIA. Six Argentine delegates were among the founders of the WJC in Geneva in 1936.[1]

  • After the Second World War around 8,000 Jewish refugees reached Argentina, along with around 5,000 former Nazis who escaped Europe with the help of President Juan Perón's government. The most famous of them, Adolf Eichmann, was kidnapped by Israeli intelligence agents in 1960 and taken to "Israel", where he was tried and executed.[1]

The community today

The WJC cites the demographer Sergio DellaPergola's 2024 estimate of about 173,000 Jews, about 85% of them Ashkenazi and 15% Sephardi. About 80% live in the city of Buenos Aires. The WJC says Buenos Aires has 50 Orthodox synagogues, five Conservative and one Reform, and that there are almost 100 Jewish educational institutions in the country.[1] The main communal organisations are listed below.

  • Asociación Mutual Israelita Argentina (AMIA): the community's central institution, responsible for religious and social services, education, health, employment and burials, with 28,000 member families according to the WJC.[1] Its leadership is chosen in elections between lists. In 2022 the Bloque Unido Religioso (BUR), which has led the AMIA since 2008, won 53.82% of the vote. A list of Zionist parties (Avodá, Likud, Herut, Sionistas Apartidarios and MSR) took 7.81% and seven delegates, according to Susana Gelber of Meretz Argentina, writing in Nueva Sion.[5] In 2025 the Zionist parties again ran a joint list, "Somos AMIA", led by the president of the Organización Sionista Argentina, Demián Stratievsky, who said they were the parties that had worked hardest after 7 October 2023 "e históricamente detrás de Israel y del sionismo" ("and historically behind Israel and Zionism").[6]
    • How far is it Zionist? The AMIA is a communal welfare body, not a Zionist organisation, but Zionist parties compete for its leadership. Its education department works with the Kehilá Center of Israel on an international Hebrew competition.[1] Since 2008 it has been led by an Orthodox religious bloc rather than by the Zionist parties.
  • Delegación de Asociaciones Israelitas Argentinas (DAIA): the WJC's formal Argentine affiliate. The WJC says it "lobbies for the interests of the community and its constituent organizations". Its president, Mauro Berenstein, is a WJC vice-president.[1]
    • How far is it Zionist? The DAIA is the community's political representative. Clarín reported that the DAIA president travelled with Milei to "Israel" in April 2026.[7]
  • Organización Sionista Argentina (OSA): describes itself as "la expresión institucional del movimiento sionista en la Argentina" ("the institutional expression of the Zionist movement in Argentina"). It works with Jewish schools, youth movements and synagogues to promote Hebrew, "la centralidad de Israel" and "la lucha contra el antisionismo".[8] Its stated aims include "esclarecimiento" (clarification) on the Arab–Israeli conflict.[9] In 2020 its secretary for political action said the OSA had set up the post to take Zionism and "la realidad en Israel" to Argentine political, social and economic circles, "con la intención de seguir haciendo Hasbara".[10]
    • How far is it Zionist? Fully. It is the umbrella of the Zionist parties and openly does hasbara for "Israel".
  • Latin American Jewish Congress: the WJC's regional affiliate, headquartered in Buenos Aires. It is headed by Adrián Werthein, and its executive director, Claudio Epelman, is also the WJC's commissioner for interfaith relations.[1]
    • How far is it Zionist? It is part of the WJC network. No separate statement of its position on "Israel" was found.
  • Youth movements and clubs: the WJC lists Bnei Akiva, Hashomer Hatzair, BBYO, the Asociación de Universitarios Judíos Argentinos and El Lazo among the youth organisations, and says the sports and community club OHA Macabi promotes "a connection to Israel".[1]
    • How far is it Zionist? Bnei Akiva (religious Zionist) and Hashomer Hatzair (socialist Zionist) are Zionist youth movements. The OSA says it works with the youth movements.[8]
  • Media: the WJC lists the Jewish News Agency, Vis a Vis, Itón Gadol and Radio Jai.[1]

How far is it Zionist? Argentina's community has a fully Zionist umbrella body in the OSA, Zionist youth movements, and Zionist parties that compete for the leadership of the AMIA. The AMIA and the DAIA are communal and representative bodies first, but their leaders work closely with the Israeli state and with Milei's government.

Chabad

Main article: Chabad-Lubavitch movement

There is no Chabad Bot page for Argentina. Milei, a Catholic who studies with a rabbi in Buenos Aires, visited the grave of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Menachem Mendel Schneerson, in New York in July 2023 during his campaign, and again on 27 November 2023 as his first trip after his election.[11]

Zionist movement and advocacy

  • The OSA runs political outreach and hasbara (see above).[10]
  • In June 2026 the Israel Allies Foundation and the American Friends of Isaac Accords, a body set up by the Genesis Prize Foundation, held a three-day "Latin America Chairmen's Conference" in Buenos Aires for chairs of parliamentary Israel Allies caucuses. Legislators signed the Isaac Accords principles and pledged to work for embassy moves to Jerusalem and the adoption of the IHRA definition of antisemitism.[12] The IAF president, Josh Reinstein, called it "faith-based diplomacy".[13] Milei had received the 2025 Genesis Prize for his support for "Israel".[12]

Israeli state and commercial ties

Diplomacy

  • The Israeli foreign ministry dates recognition to January 1949. "Israel" has an embassy in Buenos Aires and an honorary consulate in Mendoza.[2] The WJC says Argentina was one of the first countries to recognise "Israel". In 2010 President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner said Argentina would recognise a Palestinian state. In 2017 Benjamin Netanyahu became the first Israeli prime minister to visit Argentina.[1]
  • In 1960 Israeli agents kidnapped Eichmann in Argentina (see above).[1]
  • Milei pledged to move Argentina's embassy to Jerusalem. In April 2026 he told an Israeli television channel that the decision was "tomada" ("taken"), but would not say when it would happen. Clarín reported that his ambassador to "Israel", Axel Wahnish, who is also his rabbi, already works from his residence in Jerusalem, and that senators had warned that recognising Jerusalem as the capital could damage Argentina's claim to the Falkland Islands.[7]
  • In July 2024 Argentina designated Hamas a terrorist organisation, and in December 2024 the defence minister, Luis Petri, visited "Israel" to expand defence cooperation in cybersecurity, drones and border protection.[1]
  • On 19 April 2026 Milei and Netanyahu launched the Isaac Accords, which the Israeli foreign ministry calls a framework for Argentina, "Israel" and "like-minded partners" to cooperate against "terrorism, antisemitism, and drug trafficking", with "particular attention" to Iran.[4]
  • On 2 April 2026 Argentina expelled Iran's chargé d'affaires, Mohsen Soltani Tehrani, after an Iranian statement criticising its government.[14] Clarín reported that the expulsion was carried out "por pedido del gobierno israelí y de algunos sectores de la dirigencia judía en Argentina" ("at the request of the Israeli government and some sectors of the Jewish leadership in Argentina").[7]

1992 embassy and 1994 AMIA bombings

  • In 1992 the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires was bombed. The WJC puts the death toll at 22, and says the United States blamed Hezbollah, acting on behalf of Iran.[1] On 18 July 1994 a bomb destroyed the AMIA building, killing 85 people and wounding 300.[3][15]
  • In 2013 Argentina and Iran signed a memorandum of understanding to set up a truth commission. It never came into force, and led to a case against President Fernández de Kirchner for an alleged cover-up. The prosecutor Alberto Nisman, who had accused her of concealing Iran's alleged responsibility, was found dead at home in January 2015.[3]
  • In April 2024 the Federal Court of Cassation ruled that Hezbollah carried out the AMIA bombing in response to a "political and strategic design" by Iran, in retaliation for Argentina reneging on a nuclear cooperation deal. The Guardian noted that the court "failed to provide concrete evidence of Iran's direct involvement" and that its conclusions were "based on confidential intelligence reports". The victims' families' group Memoria Activa said it hoped "that these judges will stop profiting from our dead".[3]
  • In September 2026 the same court upheld a new law allowing trials in absentia. Judge Daniel Rafecas has charged seven Iranians, including former ministers Ali Fallahian and Ali Akbar Velayati, and the Hezbollah operative Salman Raouf Salman. La Nación reported that a trial could begin in 2027 or 2028, and that the law "fue promovida por la comunidad judía y el Gobierno" ("was promoted by the Jewish community and the government").[15]
  • In 2020 the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights held Argentina responsible for the impunity surrounding the attack, and in January 2024 the Inter-American Court of Human Rights ruled against Argentina in the Memoria Activa case.[15]

Security and intelligence

  • On 12 September 2017, during Netanyahu's visit, the security minister, Patricia Bullrich, signed an agreement with "Israel" on public and internal security. The government said it covered organised crime, security at mass events, "inteligencia, ciencia y tecnología aplicadas a la seguridad pública", emergency management and criminal and forensic analysis.[16]
  • In March 2024 iProfesional reported that Milei's chief of staff, Nicolás Posse, had made an agreement with the intelligence services of "Israel" and the United States to investigate threats of terrorism and drug trafficking, including in the Triple Frontier, and that the head of the Federal Intelligence Agency had met senior CIA and Mossad officials several times.[17]

Arms

  • The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) records Israeli sales to the military junta: 26 second-hand Nesher fighters ordered in 1978 (a $185 million deal; Argentine designation Dagger) and 13 more ordered in 1980, 350 Shafrir-2 air-to-air missiles, and 22 second-hand Mirage-3C fighters ordered in 1982 and delivered in 1982–83. Later deals included radars for five S-2E anti-submarine aircraft modernised in "Israel" and two Bell-212 helicopters in 1998–99.[18]
  • During the Falklands War in 1982 the British government took up with "Israel" reports that Israeli companies or agents were supplying Argentina, including Mirage fuel tanks routed through Luxembourg, the Bahamas and Peru, and laser-guided bombs. "Israel" said that no new contracts would be signed while the crisis lasted, but declined to give details of supplies under existing contracts.[19]

Companies

  • In 2022 and 2023 several provinces signed contracts with Mekorot, the Israeli state water company, to draw up water-sector master plans, after a ministerial mission to "Israel" in April 2022 led by the interior minister, Eduardo de Pedro. San Juan and Mendoza signed in September 2022, and Catamarca, La Rioja and Río Negro in October.[20] Río Negro's 18-month contract was signed in the presence of the Israeli ambassador and Mario Montoto, president of the Argentine-Israeli Chamber of Commerce.[21] The left-wing outlet ANRed says Mekorot plays a role in water management in 12 of Argentina's 23 provinces, and calls it "una empresa clave en el genocidio del pueblo palestino".[22]

Ehud Barak's emails

The following items come from the two leaked mailboxes of the former Israeli prime minister and defence minister Ehud Barak (ehbarak1@gmail.com and ehud.barak@hyperion-eb.com, 2007–2016). They were hacked and leaked by Handala, a group that Distributed Denial of Secrets describes as "believed to have ties to Iranian intelligence", and were published by Distributed Denial of Secrets in August 2025. The emails carry no cryptographic signatures, and Distributed Denial of Secrets warns that material from such hack-and-leak operations may have been altered.[23]

  • Julius Baer speaking tours. The Swiss private bank Julius Baer, through its head for Latin America, Gustavo Raitzin, organised paid events with clients for Barak, including in Buenos Aires. A July 2013 plan from the bank set out dinners and lunches in Santiago de Chile (7–11 August), Montevideo (11–12 August) and São Paulo (from 12 August).[24]
  • Buenos Aires lunch, January 2014. In December 2013 Raitzin told Barak's wife, Nili Priell Barak, that his brother had organised a lunch for Barak on 9 January 2014 at the Argentine Council for Foreign Relations for about 14 guests, adding: "among others the US and Israel Ambassadors have confirmed".[25]
  • Payments. In May 2015 Nili Priell Barak told the bank that two invoices, for "200,000 SCH + US$ 67,706 expenses" covering events "in Shanghai in October 2014 and in Nassau and Buenos Aires on December 2014", had not yet been paid.[26]

The emails show these events being arranged and invoiced; they do not record what was said at them.

Trade

The Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics lists Argentina separately. In 2025 "Israel" imported goods worth $294.7 million from Argentina (2024: $294.4 million) and exported goods worth $154.2 million to it (2024: $168.1 million).[27]

Migration and aliyah

The Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics counts immigrants born in Argentina as follows:

  • 904 in 1948–51;
  • 2,888 in 1952–60;
  • 11,701 in 1961–71;
  • 13,158 in 1972–79;
  • 10,582 in 1980s;
  • 8,879 in 1990s;
  • 14,931 in 2000–2020;
  • 868 in 2021;
  • 981 in 2022;
  • 531 in 2023.[28]

Political interference

UN voting

In September 2025 Argentina was one of ten states to vote against the General Assembly's endorsement of the New York Declaration on a two-state solution.[29]

Jeffrey Epstein

La Nación found at least 711 excerpts mentioning Argentina or Argentines in the files released by the US Justice Department in 2026. It reported:[30]

  • emails between apparent FBI agents that refer to "tus víctimas en la Argentina" ("your victims in Argentina");
  • newsletters from a Buenos Aires model agency, sent between October 2012 and March 2013, which the agency said were a subscription service;
  • a 2009 email in which the banker Jes Staley, later chief executive of Barclays, told Epstein he had spent a day with the British businessman Joe Lewis in Bariloche;
  • bank records showing payments, mostly of $500, from Epstein to the stylist Roberto Giordano;
  • 2018 emails from Epstein's financial agent Paul Barrett, one listing Argentina among his worst trades; when Barrett sent him Argentine forward contracts totalling $1,110,190, Epstein asked where the Argentine loss was;
  • an invitation from a friend, over the 2018–19 New Year, to go shooting in Argentina later in 2019.[30]

The files also show that in 2015 Epstein negotiated through his pilot, Larry Visoski, to buy a Gulfstream jet owned by the Argentine businessman Federico "Fred" Machado, later extradited to the United States on narcotics charges. According to the Buenos Aires Times, investigators say there is no evidence the sale was completed.[31]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 World Jewish Congress, Community in Argentina worldjewishcongress.org, accessed 21 October 2026.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Diplomatic Missions Abroad: Status of relations mfa.gov.il, archived 5 August 2011 (Israeli government-side).
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Staff and agencies, Argentina court blames Iran for deadly 1994 bombing of Jewish center The Guardian, 12 April 2024.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Israel and Argentina announce the launching of the Isaac Accords embassies.gov.il, 19 April 2026 (Israeli government-side).
  5. ↑ Susana Gelber, Elecciones en Amia: resultados inesperados y desafíos Nueva Sion, April 2022.
  6. ↑ Elecciones | Somos AMIA: «En la lista de los partidos sionistas hay una diversidad que puede enriquecer mucho a la futura conducción» Itón Gadol, 3 April 2025.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Antes de viajar a Israel, Milei reconfirmó el traslado de la embajada argentina a Jerusalén pero no dijo cuándo Clarín, 17 April 2026.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Organización Sionista Argentina, Quienes somos osargentina.org, accessed 21 October 2026 (Organización Sionista Argentina-side).
  9. ↑ Organización Sionista Argentina, Misión osaargentina.org.ar, accessed 21 October 2026 (Organización Sionista Argentina-side).
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Entrevista a Gabriel Traiman: ¿Qué es la Secretaría de Acción Política de la OSA? Identidades, 3 August 2020.
  11. ↑ Argentina's president-elect, Javier Milei, visits Lubavitcher rabbi's grave to offer thanks for his surprise victory Jewish Telegraphic Agency, 27 November 2023.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Genesis Prize Foundation, Legislators from 14 Latin American countries commit to pro-Israel agenda at the Buenos Aires summit genesisprize.org, 30 June 2026 (Genesis Prize Foundation-side).
  13. ↑ Lawmakers from 12 Latin American countries back Isaac Accords, Jerusalem embassy move The Jerusalem Post, 30 June 2026.
  14. ↑ Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores, Comercio Internacional y Culto, Cancillería declara persona non grata al Encargado de Negocios de la Embajada de Irán en la República Argentina cancilleria.gob.ar, 2 April 2026 (Argentine government-side).
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 Hernán Cappiello, Convalidan la constitucionalidad del juicio en ausencia contra los prófugos por el ataque a la AMIA La Nación, 21 September 2026.
  16. ↑ Presidencia de la Nación, Acuerdo con Israel por la seguridad pública e interior argentina.gob.ar, 12 September 2017 (Argentine government-side).
  17. ↑ ¿Cómo es el acuerdo de Milei con la CIA y el Mossad? iProfesional, 31 March 2024.
  18. ↑ Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, SIPRI Arms Transfers Database SIPRI, trade register for Israel as supplier, 1950–2025, data generated 20 October 2026.
  19. ↑ Israel (Military Equipment Sales) Hansard, House of Commons written answers, 22 June 1982, vol. 26, cc79–80W.
  20. ↑ Presidencia de la Nación, Tras la gira a Israel encabezada por de Pedro, Catamarca, La Rioja y Río Negro firmaron convenio con la estatal israelí Mekorot argentina.gob.ar, 31 October 2022 (Argentine government-side).
  21. ↑ Gobierno de Río Negro, Mekorot realizará consultoría para el Plan Maestro del sector hídrico rionegro.gov.ar, February 2023 (Río Negro provincial government-side).
  22. ↑ El mapa de Mekorot en Argentina ANRed, accessed 21 October 2026 (critical).
  23. ↑ Distributed Denial of Secrets, Ehud Barak emails, 27 August 2025, with download at data.ddosecrets.org, accessed 21 October 2026.
  24. ↑ Email from Jane Schoch (Julius Baer) to Nili Priell Barak, forwarded by Ehud Barak, "Fwd: south america@JB #LatinAmerica", 8 July 2013 (forwarded 16 July 2013), file ehbarak1@gmail.com/Sent!15/1 (497).html, Ehud Barak emails, Distributed Denial of Secrets, released 27 August 2025 (hacked and leaked by the Handala group), accessed 21 October 2026.
  25. ↑ Email from Gustavo Raitzin (Julius Baer) to Nili Priell Barak, forwarded to Ehud Barak, "Fwd: Bs As Jan 9 (lunch)", 14 December 2013 (forwarded 15 December 2013), file ehbarak1@gmail.com/Inbox!40/1 (324).html, Ehud Barak emails, Distributed Denial of Secrets, released 27 August 2025 (hacked and leaked by the Handala group), accessed 21 October 2026.
  26. ↑ Email from Cédric Heri (Julius Baer) to Nili Priell Barak, quoting her earlier message, forwarded to Ehud Barak, "Fwd: new account in JB", 27 May 2015, file ehbarak1@gmail.com/Inbox!15/1 (408).html, Ehud Barak emails, Distributed Denial of Secrets, released 27 August 2025 (hacked and leaked by the Handala group), accessed 21 October 2026.
  27. ↑ Central Bureau of Statistics (Israel), Foreign Trade Statistics Monthly, Table D1: Trade Countries – Imports and Exports CBS, December 2025 issue (library copy) (Israeli government-side).
  28. ↑ Central Bureau of Statistics (Israel), Statistical Abstract of Israel 2024, Table 2.55: Immigrants, by period of immigration, country of birth and last country of residence CBS, 2024 (Israeli government-side).
  29. ↑ United Nations General Assembly, Recorded vote on A/80/L.1/Rev.1: Endorsement of the New York Declaration on the Peaceful Settlement of the Question of Palestine and the Implementation of the Two-State Solution, 12 September 2025 (copy hosted by Al-Quds Al-Arabi).
  30. ↑ 30.0 30.1 Camila Dolabjian, Jeffrey Epstein y Argentina: posibles víctimas locales, un viaje frustrado al país y la bronca por una inversión ruinosa La Nación, 7 February 2026.
  31. ↑ James Grainger, Epstein files show link to alleged Argentine drug-trafficker 'Fred' Machado Buenos Aires Times, 5 February 2026.
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