Argentinian President Javier Milei used his address to the 80th United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday to demand the “immediate release” of hostages still held in Gaza and to remind the world of his country’s own trauma from the 1992 bombing of Israel’s Embassy in Buenos Aires and the 1994 AMIA Jewish community center attack.
“We reiterate our demand for the immediate release of the hostages who remain captive in Gaza,” Milei said, according to an official transcript.
Linking this plea to his nation’s history of terrorism against Jewish and Israeli targets, Milei said, “In Argentina, we already suffered this horror with the attacks on the Israeli Embassy and AMIA in 1992 and 1994.”
He added that international arrest orders must be enforced so suspects face justice. Milei urged stronger judicial cooperation to end what he called decades of impunity.
UN should “rededicate itself” to founding mission, Milei says
Framing his stance on Israel within a broader context, Milei pressed the UN to “rededicate itself” to its founding mission of preserving peace and security.
He then warned against multilateral initiatives that, in his view, curb individual liberty, property rights, and free enterprise. “The central mission of the UN is to preserve international peace and security; everything else should be conceived as complementary to that end,” Milei said.
These remarks are consistent with positions Argentina’s president has made since taking office, including expressed public solidarity with Israel and repeated calls for accountability in the AMIA case.
In the UN speech, Milei coupled that message with a pledge that Buenos Aires would oppose any international initiative that “restricts individual or commercial freedoms” or violates natural rights.
The president also reiterated Argentina’s long-standing priorities outside the Middle East, including its sovereignty claim over the Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas) and consular cases, while presenting the state as aligned with liberal democracies and free-market values.
But the centerpiece of Milei’s Middle East message remained the urgent appeal to free the Gaza hostages and a reminder of the human toll of past attacks against Jewish and Israeli targets in Buenos Aires.