Argentina's president visits Israel to open embassy in Jerusalem

Argentine President Javier Milei arrived in Israel on Sunday for an official visit during which he is set to open his country’s embassy in Jerusalem, Israeli media reported.

Milei met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday evening, and the two men delivered joint statements after their talks, The Times of Israel news portal reported.

They also signed memorandums of understanding on security and artificial intelligence, the outlet said.

During his visit, Milei will open his country's embassy to Israel in Jerusalem, the newspaper added.

The trip marks Milei’s third visit to Israel since he took office in December 2023. He is scheduled to return to Argentina on Tuesday afternoon.

Milei first announced plans to move the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem during a visit to Israel in February 2024 and reiterated in November that the new mission was to be inaugurated in the spring.

Currently, only a handful of countries maintain embassies in Jerusalem, including the US, Kosovo, Honduras, Guatemala, Papua New Guinea, and Paraguay.

Most countries have refused to move their embassies to Jerusalem, viewing such an act as tacit recognition of Israel’s unilateral claim to the city as its capital.

The Palestinians regard East Jerusalem as the capital of their future state, based on international resolutions that do not recognize Israel’s occupation of the city in 1967 or its annexation in 1980.