The takeaway. In 2026, Argentina is the first Latin American — and Southern — country to chair the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA). In Buenos Aires, Javier Milei said something simple: antisemitism has not receded, it has reorganized. And the IHRA is only as strong as the political will of its members. Israel, he added, is the bastion of the West.
By Patrick Lancier
Why Argentina matters now
This is not another communiqué. It is a country of the South taking the lead of a body created for Holocaust remembrance and the fight against antisemitism. Presidency slogan: “Expanding the frontiers of memory.” The official aim: bring Latin America into the work of education, memory and vigilance.
Antisemitism did not vanish. It changed costume
“Global antisemitism has not receded, it has merely reorganized.” Milei’s line at the IHRA plenary in Buenos Aires. October 7, 2023, in his mouth, is not a parenthesis. Then the thesis: “Israel is the bastion of the West. If Israel fell, the West would be next.”
The sentence that should stick to UN walls
“The IHRA is only as strong as the political will of its members.” Argentina is not a distant observer. Attack on the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires, 1992: 29 dead, about 200 wounded. AMIA bombing, 1994: 85 dead, more than 300 wounded.
What is done, what remains conditional
IHRA presidency 2026. Isaac Accords. A project for direct flights Buenos Aires–Tel Aviv. Moving the embassy to Jerusalem “as soon as conditions allow”: not done yet. A freeze was reported in early 2026 (Malvinas / drilling).
By Patrick Lancier
Leave a Reply