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<\/a><\/p>\nArgentina’s President Javier Milei (R) cries with Rabbi Shimon Axel Wahnish during a visit to the Western Wall in Jerusalem’s Old City on February 6, 2024. (Ronald Schemidt\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Wahnish, the personal rabbi of Argentine President Javier Milei, was originally scheduled to depart from Buenos Aires on Aug. 14, 2024, to begin his tenure in Israel. But his Air Europa flight \u2014 which included a connection in Europe \u2014 was canceled due to a surge in tensions between Iran and Israel.<\/p>\n
As most commercial airlines scrapped their Tel Aviv routes amid the turmoil, only El Al, Israel\u2019s national carrier, and its subsidiaries reliably stayed in the air. Now, Wahnish has announced that El Al will begin flying between Argentina and Israel, in both a powerful symbol of the countries\u2019 alliance and a practical boon for travelers like him.<\/p>\n
El Al has not yet confirmed the flight, which Wahnish said on X would be formally announced next week, when Milei, a noted philosemite and Zionist, visits Israel for the second time.<\/p>\n
But Wahnish \u2014 the first rabbi ever to be appointed an ambassador to Israel \u2014 told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency back in August, when he was waiting to leave Buenos Aires, that he saw a direct flight as both a cause and a result of improved relations.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a question similar to the debate about which came first, the chicken or the egg,\u201d he said. \u201cAs an ambassador, I plan to work on both fronts \u2014 collaborating with airlines to make the route, while also fostering commercial, cultural, artistic, sporting and educational exchanges.\u201d<\/p>\n
Milei\u2019s three-day state visit is set to start on June 9 and to include meetings with Israeli President Isaac Herzog and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a speech before the Knesset, the acceptance ceremony for the Genesis Prize, a visit to the Western Wall and a meeting with relatives of the hostages taken during the Oct. 7 attacks. Milei is the first non-Jew to be awarded the Genesis Prize.<\/p>\n
As part of the trip, Milei and Netanyahu will sign a \u201cMemorandum of Freedom and Democracy Against Terrorism, Antisemitism, and Discrimination.\u201d<\/p>\n
The memorandum formalizes a major shift in Argentina\u2019s foreign policy following the election of Milei, a self-proclaimed \u201canarcho-capitalist,\u201d in 2023 after years of left-wing leadership. In 2013, Argentina signed a memorandum of understanding with Iran, and for much of the past two decades, the country maintained close ties with Iran and frequently criticized Israeli military actions. <\/p>\n
Under Milei, Argentina has pivoted toward a stronger alliance with Israel, openly supporting its right to self-defense and its war in Gaza. At times, Argentina has stood nearly alone among nations in supporting Israel, and Milei has not joined in as other allies of Israel, including with right-leaning leaders, have urged Netanyahu to end the war.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is a deep honor and a historic privilege to express our strong alliance against terror, standing close to the Israeli democracy that is defending itself from terrorists,\u201d Wahnish said in the August interview.<\/p>\n
Wahnish told JTA that his rabbinic background is a bonus in his work as the ambassador \u2014 but not his main qualification.<\/p>\n
\u201cFirst and foremost, I\u2019m an Argentine citizen, a human being. If someone has expertise in a particular area, whether as a physicist, engineer or any other skill, can that be a disadvantage? \u2026 No,\u201d he said. \u201cThe same applies to being a rabbi. I think it is a plus. I have an ethical and moral background, a philosophical knowledge, it is like an extra skill.\u201d<\/p>\n
But he added, \u201cThe strong alliance between our country and Israel is not rooted in religion. It\u2019s based on values of democracy and freedom.\u201d<\/p>\n
At the time, he declined to say when Milei planned to fulfill his stated intention to relocate the Argentine embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a move the United States made during President Donald Trump\u2019s first term in 2018.<\/p>\n
The embassy move has not been formalized, with conventional wisdom in Argentina being that Milei may be waiting until after midterm elections in October to follow through on his promise. <\/p>\n
But Wahnish appears to have succeeded in pressing forward on the direct flights, which he said on X in February were a \u201cdream of my administration.\u201d At the time, he said he had advocated for the flights in a direct conversation with Netanyahu, in which they also discussed Milei\u2019s visit, the memorandum and the Israeli hostages still being held in Gaza, who include Argentine dual citizens.<\/p>\n
A direct flight between the two countries was previously announced in 2016, but it was never implemented. If the new El Al route becomes a reality, there is only one precedent \u2014 and it hardly offered a model of strong diplomatic relations. It was also not nonstop, on a route that is estimated to require 16 hours of flight time from Tel Aviv. <\/p>\n
On May 19, 1960, a special Israeli delegation arrived in Buenos Aires on an El Al flight to attend the 150th anniversary of Argentine independence. Their visit had a secondary purpose: The following day, the Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann, whom Mossad agents had apprehended in Argentina, was disguised as a crew member and returned to Israel on the same plane. The aircraft stopped to refuel in Dakar, Senegal, and landed in Israel on May 22, where Eichmann was arrested. He was later convicted of crimes against humanity and hanged in 1962.<\/p>\n