Argentina “cannot be neutral in the Third World War.”
When tensions between Tel Aviv and Tehran exploded this past weekend following Tehran’s retaliatory strike against strategic targets in Israel, most governments in Latin America struck a relatively neutral position, expressing their concern about a possible escalation of violence in the Middle East. Despite differences of opinion over who is most to blame for the rising tensions, there was almost unanimous agreement on the need for decisive measures to avoid further escalation.
But there was one striking exception: Javier Milei’s government in Argentina, which has expressed “solidarity and unwavering commitment to the State of Israel in the face of attacks initiated by the Islamic Republic of Iran.” To deal with the crisis, Milei cut short his international tour of the US and Europe, where he was scheduled to participate in an official ceremony to mark his government’s purchase of 24 almost 40-year old F-16 fighter jets from Denmark that the Danish government is retiring, prompting jokes that Milei’s government doesn’t have a peso to spare for Argentine pensioners but it has $300 million for Danish ones.
One of his first acts was to call a crisis committee to spearhead his government’s response to the Middle East conflict. The committee’s members included Argentina’s Defence Minister, Luis Petri, Vits ice President, Victoria Villarruel, and, controversially, Israel’s Ambassador to Argentina, Eyal Sela. Controversial because the meeting was supposedly intended to analyze the risks Argentina may face as a result of the escalating conflict in the Middle East, yet Sela represents the interests of one of the two countries directly involved in that conflict.
As veteran journalist Jorge Lanata put it, “it really doesn’t matter whether Milei is worried or not about Israel. What matters is that a foreign ambassador, whether from Israel or Belgium, I don’t care, is in a cabinet meeting in Argentina. It seems to me that there are basic standards to uphold.”
As the controversy grew around Sela’s participation in the meeting, the government tried to memory hole the whole debacle by claiming that the Israeli ambassador had not actually attended the meeting after all, as it itself had claimed just a day earlier, but had merely participated in a preliminary session before making his departure. This was despite multiple official photos showing Sela sitting just two seats away from Milei.
Some sources even claim that Sela kicked off the meeting, as if he were its chair, with a summary of the current state of play in Israel, none of which would come as any great surprise. Once the meeting was over, Milei’s spokesman, Manuel Adorni, told a press conference that “Argentina emphatically supports the State of Israel in defense of its sovereignty.” He then handed the mike to Sela who thanked Milei on behalf of the Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, and President Isaac Herzog “for his clear and resounding condemnation of Iran and for being on the right side of history and the facts.”
No Neutrality in a Third World War
Milei himself said in an off-screen comment that Argentina “cannot be neutral in the Third World War,” according to the veteran TV news presenter Nelson Castro. His government released the following official statement (translation my own):
The office of President Javier Milei expresses its solidarity and unwavering commitment to the State of Israel, in the face of the attacks initiated by the Islamic Republic of Iran.
The Argentine Republic recognises the right of Nation-States to defend themselves, and emphatically supports the State of Israel in the defence of its sovereignty, especially against regimes that promote terror and seek the destruction of Western civilization.
We recall that on Thursday April 11, the federal court of appeals ruled that the attacks against the Israel Embassy and the AMIA (Mutual Argentina-Israel Association) were perpetrated by Hezbollah under the aegis of Iranian State organisations.
As the President of the Nation has said, Argentina has adopted a new foreign policy that is based on the defense of Western values and a common vision of the world in defense of life, liberty and private property.
The State of Israel is a bulwark of Western values in the Middle East and Argentina will always be at its side in the face of those intent on its extermination.
No Surprise
The Milei government’s unquestioning support of Israel, even as it has committed a host of war crimes in Gaza, including genocide, should not come as a surprise. On the campaign trail, foreign policy may have been overshadowed by economic concerns, but Milei made it abundantly clear where his geopolitical allegiances would lie if he won the election. He said he would cancel Argentina’s entry to the BRICS alliance, which he has done. He would also cool relations with Argentina’s two largest trade partners, Brazil and China, while emphatically aligning the country with the US and Israel. And he has done exactly that…
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Nick Corbishley 