Relations between the two were tied during the early years of
Nazi hunting when Israel's
Mossadkidnapped former
NaziAdolf Eichmann despite Argentine protestations of a violation of its sovereignty. Immediately after
World War II, Argentina was a safe haven for former Nazi officials because they brought badly needed capital investment and/or technical expertise.[citation needed]
Carlos Menem was the first head of state of Argentina to make a diplomatic visit to Israel, in 1991. He proposed to mediate between Israel and
Syria in their negotiations over the
Golan Heights.[5] However, the relations were further tested when
Hezbollah was blamed for bombing the
Israeli embassy and a
Jewish community centre in 1992 and 1994, respectively. Since 2013, roughly 100 Jewish organisations across Argentina have called for the government to repeal its pact with the
Islamic Republic of Iran over the AMIA terrorist attacks.[6][7]
While Argentina has the largest Jewish population in
Latin America, there have been various cases of
anti-Semitism in Argentina,[8][9][10] such as the desecration of 58 Jewish graves in
La Tablada by unknown peoples in 2009,[11] mostly due to negative
stereotypes of Jews controlling business interests and dominating the world through capitalism, as well as Israel's affiliation with the United States.[12][13][14]
In September 2017, Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu paid an official visit to Argentina, becoming the first Israeli Prime Minister in office to visit Argentina and Latin America.[17]
In March 2019, two Iranian citizens used fake Israeli passports to leave
Spain and different fake Israeli passports to enter Argentina. Realising that the passports were fraudulent, Argentinian police arrested the suspects. Argentinian prosecutors discovered that the suspects had previously used fake passports to enter other countries, including
Portugal.[18]
In January 2020, President
Alberto Fernández travelled to Israel for his first presidential trip abroad. There he paid respects to the victims of the
Holocaust and maintained a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu who thanked him for keeping
Hezbollah branded as a terrorist organisation, a measure taken by Fernández's predecessor
Mauricio Macri.[19][20]
In the aftermath of the
2023 Argentine general election and
Javier Milei's victory, President-elect Milei pledged to move the Argentine Embassy from
Tel Aviv to
Jerusalem,[21][22] and announced as part of "a spiritual trip" alongside rabbis he studies with, Milei would visit the
Western Wall and Israel before his inauguration on 10 December 2023.[23][24] In December 2023, President Javier Milei announced that his government is working on designating
Hamas as a terrorist organization.[25] In February 2024, Argentinian President Javier Milei visited Israel, making Israel his first bilateral overseas destination as president.[26]