Israeli President Isaac Herzog expressed his gratitude to Argentine President Javier Milley for leading the commemorations of the 30th anniversary of the bombing of the Argentine-Israeli Mutual Association (AMIA), which was allegedly orchestrated by Iran through its proxy group Hezbollah.
Herzog also thanked the presidents of Uruguay and Paraguay, Luis Lacalle Pou and Santiago Peña, for “committing themselves to seeking justice for the attacks that remain unpunished, and sending a clear and important message to the region and the world.”
“Thank you for standing in solidarity with the people of Israel as we continue to face the threat of terror and hatred,” Herzog said. Said in a social media post on Thursday.
President Milley and Argentine government officials Accompany On Thursday morning, representatives from AMIA, members of Argentina’s Jewish community, and families of victims gathered to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the July 18, 1994 terrorist attack on a Jewish community center.
President Javier Milley has participated in 30 AMIA activities. pic.twitter.com/CXSBOHEp2L
— Officina del Presidente (@OPRArgentina) July 18, 2024
On that day, terrorists from the Shiite jihadist organization Hezbollah rammed a van loaded with explosives into the AMIA building in Buenos Aires, killing 85 people and injuring hundreds. Preceding In 1992, Hezbollah carried out a similar suicide attack on the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires, killing 29 people and wounding 242.
The 1994 AMIA bombing was the deadliest terrorist attack in Argentina’s history and the deadliest in the Western Hemisphere’s history before the September 11, 2001, attacks in the United States.
AMIA President Amos Linetzky said at the commemoration: Interrogation Why has Argentina’s justice system failed to find the perpetrators of the attack?
“It’s hard to believe that 30 years have passed since that cold morning. 30 years without anyone being held accountable for this attack,” Linetsky said. “30 years of patience, delay and error by the Argentine government, who turned a blind eye.”
Linetsky also criticized Argentine lawmakers for not amending laws to combat terrorism, and Bolivia’s socialist government for signing military orders. agreement Despite the attack, which left six Bolivian nationals dead, cooperation with Iran continues.
Hezbollah was widely believed to have carried out both attacks on behalf of Iran, but numerous local prosecutors, officials and judicial proceedings operating over three decades have failed to deliver a conclusive verdict bringing those responsible to justice.
Iran’s deep ties to the government of former Socialist President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, who served from 2007 to 2015, and her late predecessor, Néstor Kirchner, who served from 2003 to 2007, are also believed to have contributed to the lack of justice. Fernández de Kirchner’s administration forced Argentina to sign a “memorandum of understanding” with Iran, giving it authority over the AMIA bombing investigation, effectively allowing Iran to conduct its own investigation.
Argentine prosecutor Alberto Nisman has accused President Fernández de Kirchner of covering up Iran’s involvement in terrorist attacks in exchange for favorable trade deals. found Nisman was shot to death on 18 January 2015, hours before he was scheduled to testify in Congress about the results of his investigation into Fernández de Kirchner. Kirchner’s government ruled his death a “suicide.”
Fernández de Kirchner was succeeded by President Mauricio Macri. Withdrawn Memorandum of Understanding with Iran. The AMIA cover-up continued after Nisman’s death, but the case was controversial. Fired In 2021.
In April 2024, Argentina’s Supreme Federal Criminal Court will finally Domination It formally declared that both Iran and Hezbollah were responsible for the 1994 AMIA bombing and the 1992 bombing of the Israeli embassy in Argentina, paving the way for the Argentine government to formally file charges against Iran in the International Court of Justice.
Ahead of the 30th anniversary of the AMIA bombing on Thursday, Millay Participated Uruguayan President Luis Lacalle Pou and Paraguayan President Santiago Peña spoke at an event hosted by the World Jewish Center of Argentina. All three heads of state called for justice for the victims of the AMIA bombing.
During the event, Milley stressed that the 30th anniversary of the AMIA bombing also marked “30 years of impunity, smokescreens and crude subterfuge used by conspirators to cover up one of the worst atrocities in history.”
“Today we choose to speak up rather than be silent. We choose to raise our voices rather than lower our arms,” Millay said. Said“In the end, we choose to live because we know that everything else will lead to death.”
Milley also compared the two attacks to the Oct. 7 terror attack on Israel by the Islamic militant group Hamas. Last week, Argentina officially Declared Hamas is a terrorist organization.
Paraguayan President Santiago Peña described the AMIA bombing as “cowardly, evil and cruel” and reiterated his country’s decision to move its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, stressing that Paraguay is “on the right side of history” by standing on the side of the “great Jewish people.”
Uruguayan President Luis Lacalle Pou called for support in the fight against anti-Semitism and terrorism, noting that “unless those who govern love their neighbor as themselves, they will not achieve their goal and will have neither the means nor the legitimacy to speak out strongly against terrorist acts.”
Christian K. Caruso is a Venezuelan author documenting life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter. here.
