FM Cohen, Families of Hostages, Meet With President-Elect Milei in Argentina

By Matis Glenn

Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen, together with families of captives held by Hamas terrorists, visited Argentina over the weekend, and met with President-elect Javier Milei on Sunday.

At the meeting, Milei, who has shown strong support for Israel, told Cohen that that he will explore the possibility of declaring Hamas a terrorist organization in his country. They also discussed the deepening of relations between the countries and the expansion of trade. Milei met with the families of the abductees, including the Biebes family, who are Argentinian citizens.

Milei, who considered converting to Judaism and visited the Ohel of the Lubavitcher Rebbe after winning election, is set to take office Monday.

“Argentina is a strategic country in South America and under President Milei, the alliance between the countries will be strengthened,” Cohen said. “I thanked him for his firm stand by Israel in its fight against terrorism and his intention to declare Hamas a terrorist organization, as well as for his call for the unconditional release of the abductees. I invited the president to visit Israel and inaugurate the Argentinian embassy in Yerushalayim, as the incoming president himself mentioned in his speeches in recent months.”

“I want to emphasize our absolute solidarity with the people of Israel following the acts of terrorism committed by the terrorist organization Hamas,” Milei said. “We condemn them sharply and clearly. I support Israel’s full right to defend itself against those terrorist attacks. In addition, we are examining the possibilities of declaring Hamas a terrorist organization in Argentina.”

Argentina is home to a large Jewish community, which has also experienced Islamic terrorism, including the 1992 Hezbollah attack against the Israeli embassy, in which 29 people were murdered by terrorists.

On Friday, Cohen met with Argentina’s new Foreign Minister, Diana Mondino.

This week’s trip marks Foreign Minister Cohen’s second visit to Latin America, after visiting Paraguay and Uruguay four months ago.