President Milei’s surprising devotion to Judaism and Israel provokes tension in Argentina and elsewhere

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — At the base of the sacred Western Wall in Jerusalem’s Old City, President Javier Milei of Argentina seemed to be in a spiritual trance.

With his head and hands pressed against the ancient stone, he prayed with the Orthodox rabbi who introduced him to Judaism three years ago. Although he was born and raised as a Roman Catholic, Milei has increasingly demonstrated public interest in Judaism and has even expressed intentions to convert.

Pushing away from the wall, Milei collapsed. He hugged Rabbi Shimon Axel Wahnish, sobbing on his shoulder.

“At that moment, I felt proud that we had such a determined leader with such deep spiritual values,” Wahnish told the Associated Press in a recent interview, recalling his state trip to Israel in February.

For many Argentines, this pride was fraught with danger.

Breaking decades of political precedent, Milei went further in his support for right-wing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin. Netanyahu’s government than perhaps any other world leader as Israel faces increasing isolation About your bombing and invasion of Gaza that killed more than 36,000 Palestinians and pushed the enclave into brink of hunger.

His stance could not contrast so much with most of Latin America – where Bolivia It is Colombia cut ties with Israel and at least five regional countries, more recently Brazilthey withdrew ambassadors from Tel Aviv.

“Among the great nations that should be pillars of the free world, I see indifference in some and fear in others to stand on the side of truth,” Milei told Jewish community leaders at an event last month commemorating the 81st anniversary of the uprising. Warsaw Ghetto. . It was a veiled attack on Western powers – including the United States – for criticizing Israeli military conduct.

The crowd rose to its feet in applause.

The president’s supporters insist that his newfound Jewish fervor has no bearing on his foreign policy. But Milei’s passion for Judaism and outspoken support for Israel have raised fears and exposed fissures in Argentina’s Jewish community, one of the largest in the world, and disrupted relations with its neighbors.

Argentine Jews remain deeply scarred by two lethal attacks against the Israeli embassy in 1992 and the Argentine Jewish Mutual Association, a community center known by the Spanish acronym AMIA, in 1994. Authorities allege Iran planned the attacks and Lebanon Hezbollah militant group executed them. No one was held responsible. Argentina’s investigation was mired in controversy.

“Milei has a messianic mind and this is very dangerous,” said Diana Malamud, whose husband was among the 85 people killed in the AMIA attack. “Her policies could not only fuel conflicts internationally… but also generate anti-Semitism in our country.”

Milei’s curiosity about Judaism began as a kind of penance in 2021, when he faced accusations of harboring pro-Nazi sympathies and wanted to prove in a speech that he had no animosity towards Jews. He connected with Sephardic leader Rabbi Wahnish to have “a conversation that was supposed to last 10 minutes and ended two hours later,” Wahnish said.

As Milei evolved from TV commentator to “anarcho-capitalist” president, Wahnish guided him through Torah study. Looking for common ground between his vision of radical libertarianism and Old Testament prophecy, Milei’s casual interest turned into a regular religious practice.

Wahnish, recently appointed Argentine ambassador to Israel, declined to comment on Milei’s conversion.

“In Judaism and Moses, Milei sees a cultural and spiritual revolution toward freedom,” Wahnish said. From childhood, he added, Milei “felt that Moses was her idol, her hero.”

Milei, who has four clones of her dead dog, Conan, was never the more conventional occupant of the highest position in Argentina. Still, his foray into Judaism came as a particular surprise.

During the campaign, Milei quoted the Torah, made several pilgrimages in Brooklyn to the graves of influential people Hasidic leader Menachem Mendel Schneerson and blew the shofar, the ram’s horn trumpet played during the Jewish High Holy Days, to end his election campaign.

Before Milei’s victory, nearly 4,000 Argentine Jewish intellectuals signed a petition expressing concern about Milei’s “political use of Judaism.”

“It is perverse … to use the shofar, which is blown during religious ceremonies, to announce yourself,” said Pablo Gorodneff, secretary general of the progressive group Apelo Judaico Argentino. “It makes me very frustrated, very sad.”

While fighting raged in Gaza, Milei flew to Israel for his first visit abroad and praised Netanyahu unreservedly. Following on footsteps of former US President Donald Trumphe promised to move the Argentine Embassy from a seaside bastion near Tel Aviv to the contested capital of Jerusalem – worsening an emotional issue in the heart of the conflict. Netanyahu called Milei “a great friend.” Hamas called him a “partner of the Zionist occupier.”

Last month, Milei’s government overturned Argentina’s traditional recognition of Palestinian statehood, joining the US and Israel in voting against it. Palestinian accession to the UN

His shift in foreign policy thrilled Jewish community leaders but also made them nervous.

“If Milei’s supposed defense of Israel is an attack on Palestinian rights, it will put the Jewish community in Argentina at risk,” said Héctor Shalom, director of the Anne Frank Center of Argentina. “The decades of impunity for past attacks show our vulnerability.”

The 1994 bombing, Argentina’s most notorious cold case, still spreads unease. After Hamas attack on October 7the climate in the Jewish community was from worried to alarmed.

Jewish high schools have requested that students stop wearing uniforms so as not to identify as Jews. Authorities increased security at synagogues. Two bomb threats emptied the AMIA building.

“Security levels have always been high, but now there is much greater sensitivity,” said Amos Linetzky, head of AMIA.

Government officials were also anxious, attacking Iran and warning that the Israel-Hamas War it fueled the embers of Islamic militancy and blew them into Latin America.

Upon receiving the news of the first Iranian attack on Israeli territory April 14, local media reported that Milei’s pro-Israel stance made him a target. He cut short his state visit to Denmark and flew home to convene a crisis committee alongside the Israeli ambassador.

Milei’s hardline security minister, Patricia Bullrich, singled out leftist neighbors Bolivia and Chile as Islamist hotbeds, ordering reinforcements for Argentina’s northern border.

“We are on high alert,” said Bullrich, claiming that Bolivia – which last year reached a defense agreement with Iran – is full of Iranian Revolutionary Guard agents. “Political correct messages, such as calls for peace, are not Argentina’s position.”

Without providing evidence, Bullrich also stated that Chile – headquarters of the largest Palestinian population outside the Arab world – hosts Hezbollah.

The accusations, considered unfounded by Bolivia and Chile, led both governments to withdraw their ambassadors from Buenos Aires.

On Saturday, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, a 57-member group that calls itself “the collective voice of the Muslim world,” issued an angry denunciation of what it described as Milei’s anti-Islamic rhetoric.

For years, US and Argentine intelligence services submitted the Triple Frontierwhere Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay meet, under intense surveillance, scanning the large population of Lebanese and Syrian immigrants in search of Islamic sympathies.

“One of the things that I don’t think gets enough attention is how long Hezbollah has been present in our hemisphere,” Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee this spring.

Washington claims that Hezbollah finances its activities through drug traffickers in the area. The US Treasury has sanctioned dozens of individuals in South America for alleged ties to Hezbollah, most recently, last fall. Authorities reported frustrating attacks, with Israeli spy agency Mossad helping Brazil arrest suspected Hezbollah recruits last November.

Hezbollah denies having operations in the region.

“What would Hezbollah want with Latin America?” the group’s spokeswoman, Rana Sahili, asked the AP. She accused Milei of playing with facts to gain points in a “political game”.

Experts say the real threat lies somewhere in between.

“Some say Hezbollah’s presence in Latin America is a complete fabrication, while others say the group uses the region as a base and that we are doomed,” said Fernando Brancoli of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil.

“Neither is correct.”