JERUSALEM, Israel — President Javier Milei of Argentina offered prayers at the Western Wall, the holiest site in Judaism, on Tuesday evening, immediately after arriving in Israel.
Milei, who is proudly pro-Israel and has taken a strong interest in Judaism, is making a three-day visit to Israel, delivering on a promise he made while running for president late last year.
He will then continue to Rome for a meeting with Pope Francis, who is originally from Argentina. He will also attend the canonization of an Argentinian saint.
Upon departure from Buenos Aires, Milei posted a selfie of his small group of colleagues on Instagram, adding: “On the way to Rome. Final destination Jerusalem. Long live liberty, damn it!”
Upon arriving in Israel, Milei declared that he intended to move the Argentinian embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, recognizing the city as Israel’s capital — much as U.S. President Donald Trump did.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu acknowledged Milei’s gesture in a statement Tuesday afternoon, saying that he “welcomes the arrival in Israel of Argentinian President Javier Milei, who has announced the Argentinian Embassy’s move to Jerusalem.”
Milei was greeted by a cheering crowd at the Western Wall, with some holding Argentinian flags. He was greeted by Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz, who is the official rabbi of the Wall, and he prayed with other rabbis before greeting supporters.
Argentinia’s President Javier Milei greets rabbis and supporters after offering prayers at the Western Wall, the holiest site in Judaism. Jerusalem, Israel, February 6, 2024 (Joel Pollak / Breitbart News)
Milei’s prayer at the Western Wall is also politically significant, as it affirms that Argentina considers the holy site to be under Israeli sovereignty, again following a similar gesture by Trump during a visit in 2017.
Milei, a libertarian economist who had been sharply critical of Argentina’s socialist and populist policies in the past, swept into office after winning last October’s elections. He promptly cut half of Argentina’s government departments, one of several steps aimed at curbing spending and lowering inflation. He delivered an address at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, last month in which he warned that the West — represented by the gathered elites — had embraced socialism and therefore poverty.
Later Tuesday, Milei will visit Israel’s President Isaac Herzog, where he will meet with the families of Israeli hostages abducted by Hamas. On Wednesday, he will visit Yad Vashem, Israel’s Holocaust memorial, and meet with Netanyahu. And on Thursday, he will visit Kibbutz Nir Oz, one of the communities hardest hit by the Hamas terror attack of October 7.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the recent book, “The Zionist Conspiracy (and how to join it),” now available on Audible. He is also the author of the e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
