Argentine President Milei Urges Latinamericans To Support Israel

In a speech delivered in Argentina, President Javier Milei called on Latin American nations to strengthen their ties with the State of Israel through the Isaac Accords, warning that the region faces a defining moral and geopolitical choice between Western democracy and forces aligned with terrorism and authoritarianism.

Speaking June 29 at the Latin American Conference of the Friends of Israel Foundation, organized by the Israel Allies Foundation and American Friends of the Isaac Accords, Milei urged legislators from more than a dozen countries to translate support for Israel into concrete legislation and security cooperation.

His remarks come as Latin America has witnessed a broader political shift, with several governments moving toward closer relations with the United States and free-market policies while leftist movements have lost ground in a number of countries.

"From my first day as president, I made the firm decision to place Argentina on the right side of history," Milei told lawmakers affiliated with the Israel Allies Foundation. "What this region decides in the coming years will determine which side of history we end up on."

The Isaac Accords, launched this year by Milei and Israeli leaders in Jerusalem, seek to expand diplomatic and strategic ties between Israel and Latin American countries. Modeled on the 2020 Abraham Accords brokered by the United States between Israel and four Arab nations, the initiative is intended to foster cooperation against terrorism, antisemitism, and transnational crime.

Milei described the accords as "a moral, diplomatic and cultural coalition" against antisemitism, terrorism, and narcotics trafficking, arguing that the region must move beyond symbolic expressions of solidarity.

Speaking frankly to legislators from across Latin America, he insisted that evil can only be defeated by organized good. "Words without actions are just words, and the region already had too many speeches and too much inaction," he said. "We have prayed, lit candles, and held hands, and all the while terrorism continued."

Throughout the speech, Milei framed support for Israel as a matter not only of foreign policy but also of national security and civilizational identity. Warning against neutrality in the face of terrorism, he argued that defending Israel is an act of both moral responsibility and self-preservation.

"If Israel falls, they'll come for the entire West next," he said, presenting the conflict in the Middle East as part of a broader struggle affecting democracies around the world.

The Argentine president also condemned antisemitism, calling it "the canary in the coal mine of the West's moral decline." Recalling Argentina's own experience with international terrorism, including attacks on Israeli and Jewish targets, he argued that the threat posed by extremist organizations cannot be viewed as a distant problem.

Referring to Hamas' October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, Milei said that "hatred mutates, but it does not die," equating Hamas with Iran, Hezbollah, and other terrorist organizations. He also invoked the biblical story of Amalek in the Book of Shemot as a metaphor for contemporary terrorism, arguing that antisemitism represents a historical continuum that continues to manifest itself through new movements and alliances.

Milei reserved some of his sharpest criticism for what he called "21st-century socialism," arguing that for decades many Latin American governments "made common cause with Israel's enemies" and asserting that there exists "an implicit alliance between the radical left and Islamist terrorism." In his view, both share a rejection of the values of Western civilization.

The president contrasted those policies with the actions taken by his administration since taking office in December 2023. His government has designated Hamas, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, and the Quds Force as terrorist organizations, expelled Iran's chargé d'affaires, signed a Memorandum on Freedom and Democracy with Israel, and promoted the Isaac Accords as a framework for expanded regional security and counterterrorism cooperation.

Addressing lawmakers directly, Milei urged Latin American governments to strengthen laws targeting the financing of terrorist organizations and to deepen security cooperation with Israel.

"Words without action are just words. This region has already had too many speeches and too much inaction," he said.

The president also placed the conference within a broader ideological contest unfolding across Latin America, arguing that leftist political movements are retreating throughout the region.

"First they lost in Chile, last week they lost in Colombia, we already know they lost in Peru, and I hope they lose in Brazil in October," he said.

He further argued that "the Cuban regime has had to acknowledge the failure of its ideology" and asserted that "thanks to the bold intervention of the United States, Nicolás Maduro's dictatorship in Venezuela was brought to an end," reinforcing his vision of a regional alignment centered on the United States, Israel, and democratic capitalism.

Milei has dramatically reoriented Argentina's foreign policy since assuming office, forging an unusually close partnership with both the United States and Israel after decades in which Argentine governments generally pursued a more nonaligned approach. Since Hamas' October 2023 terrorist attack on Israel, he has become one of the Jewish state's strongest international supporters in its wars against Hamas and Hezbollah.

In 2025, Milei became the first non-Jewish head of state to receive the Genesis Prize in recognition of his support for Israel. He donated the prize's $1 million award to launch the Isaac Accords initiative.

"Latin America can take a clear stand," he said. "Neutrality is not an option just as it never has been in existential struggles."

Concluding his address, Milei again urged Latin American nations to make a clear choice.

"What this region decides in the coming years will determine which side of history we will be on. There is no such thing as neutrality," he said before ending with his customary slogan: "Long live freedom, damn it!"