Argentinian President Javier Milei is expected to arrive for a diplomatic visit to Israel in early June, both countries confirmed Monday.
The trip will be centered on the joint signing of a memorandum of understanding between Jerusalem and Buenos Aires, “reaffirming the values of freedom, democracy and the fight against discrimination and antisemitism,” said a source in the Argentine embassy.
The South American president also plans to emphasize his country’s call for the release of all remaining hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, three of whom are dual Argentine-Israeli nationals, added the source.
They are Eitan Horn, and brothers David and Ariel Cunio.
The three are among 251 people abducted from Israel on October 7, 2023, when Hamas led a devastating invasion of southern Israel in which Palestinian terrorists killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, triggering the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip.
During his visit, Milei — who last visited Israel in February 2024 — is expected to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, deliver an address to the Knesset plenum, and discuss establishing direct flights between Buenos Aires and Tel Aviv.
Milei and Netanyahu’s signing of the memorandum aims to secure Argentina’s ties to Israel, and came at the initiative of Argentine Ambassador to Israel Shimon Axel Wahnish, who is also the philosemitic president’s personal rabbi.
Wahnish works continuously to strengthen Israel-Argentina relations, as well as Israel’s status in Latin America at large, added the source.
Milei was set to speak before the Knesset in March after accepting an invitation from Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana, but had to postpone the visit due to internal priorities in Argentina.
Milei, a self-described “anarcho-capitalist” elected to lead Argentina in December 2023, has transformed Argentina from a critic of Israel to one of its staunchest supporters. He plans to move the embassy to Jerusalem and recently replaced his foreign minister after his first pick voted against Israel and the United States at the United Nations.
Under his leadership, Argentina has declared Hamas a terrorist organization and ratcheted up efforts to prosecute those responsible for two deadly bombings against Jewish institutions in the 1990s.
Milei was raised Catholic but has famously been drawn to Judaism and said he intends to convert once he leaves office. (He says it would be impossible to serve as president and observe Shabbat fully, a commitment that requires abstaining from work.)
In January, he became the first non-Jewish person to be awarded the Genesis Prize, often dubbed the “Jewish Nobel.”
Horn, 37, was abducted from his brother Iair’s home in Nir Oz on October 7 as Hamas terrorists swarmed through the kibbutz near the Gaza border, killing or kidnapping one in four of the residents. Iair was also abducted and later released during a ceasefire in February 2025.
David Cunio was abducted that day along with his wife, Sharon Aloni Cunio, their 3-year-old twin daughters, Yuli and Emma, and Sharon’s sister, Danielle Aloni, and her daughter Emilia, 5, who were visiting them for the holiday weekend. His brother Ariel was also abducted that day, along with his girlfriend Arbel Yehoud.
Sharon and the twins and her sister Danielle and her daughter were released in November 2023 during a ceasefire. Yehoud was released in January this year.