{"id":400735,"date":"2026-04-19T21:45:11","date_gmt":"2026-04-19T21:45:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/400735\/"},"modified":"2026-04-19T21:45:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-19T21:45:11","slug":"milei-netanyahu-announce-tel-aviv-buenos-aires-flights-ink-strategic-isaac-accords","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/400735\/","title":{"rendered":"Milei, Netanyahu announce Tel Aviv-Buenos Aires flights, ink strategic Isaac Accords"},"content":{"rendered":"

Argentinian President Javier Milei arrived in Israel on Sunday for his third trip in two years since his election to the position, announcing alongside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that direct flights would begin between the two countries by the end of the year and that he would move the country\u2019s embassy to Jerusalem.<\/p>\n

During the meeting, Milei and Netanyahu also signed the Isaac Accords, a series of strategic deals on security and AI. The name of the accords is a reference to the Abraham Accords, signed in 2020, that normalized ties with several Arab countries and aims to promote ties with countries in the Western Hemisphere.<\/p>\n

Upon arriving in Jerusalem, the two greeted each other with a hug, then Netanyahu joked about how similar \u201cJavier\u201d and the Hebrew word for friend \u2014 \u201cchaver\u201d \u2014 sound. The pair both gave a thumbs up for photographers ahead of their meeting, as Netanyahu told his guest, \u201cIt warms my heart that you\u2019re here.\u201d<\/p>\n

They were joined by Foreign Minister Gideon Sa\u2019ar, Transportation Minister Miri Regev, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, and US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee.<\/p>\n

In his remarks at the Isaac Accords signing ceremony at the Prime Minister\u2019s Office, Netanyahu said that recent political changes in South America \u2014 likely referring to the election of right-wing, Western-friendly governments \u2014 mark a return of the \u201calliance of freedom.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt starts with the two of us and with the support that is always there from the US for free societies,\u201d he said, expressing hope that the Abraham Accords model can be applied to Latin America.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had Abraham, and now we have Isaac. What will be the Jacob Accords?\u201d the premier joked.<\/p>\n

The Milei initiative will bring together \u201cthe descendants of Isaac and nations of the Judeo-Christian tradition, in defense of freedom and democracy, and in the fight against terrorism, antisemitism, and drug trafficking,\u201d according to a joint written statement released later in the day.<\/p>\n

Members of the accord will coordinate against \u201cIran\u2019s attempts to expand its terrorist networks and operational presence across the Western Hemisphere,\u201d the statement read. \u201cThe initiative also seeks to foster coordination and alignment in international forums and to promote a framework to expand cooperation in innovation, technology, trade, and economic openness.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIsrael is now a leading technological power, and Argentina has the human capital and regulatory freedom to become the world\u2019s next AI center,\u201d Milei said in his address in Spanish at the signing ceremony, according to Channel 12 news. \u201cWe will develop joint models, train experts, and work together in international forums where the future of this technological revolution is determined.\u201d<\/p>\n

Milei called the launch of the accords \u201ca historic moment for our nations.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt will not only strengthen the relationship between Argentina and Israel, united by shared values, but also represents a step toward a freer and more prosperous hemisphere,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cArgentina and Israel are brothers in pain since the terror attack on the embassy in Buenos Aires,\u201d he added, referencing the deadly 1992 bombing on Israel\u2019s embassy in Argentina, blamed on Iran.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday we are asking for justice, and will move the embassy to Jerusalem,\u201d Milei said.<\/p>\n

Earlier in the year, Argentina reportedly\u00a0halted<\/a> its plans to relocate its embassy to Jerusalem, amid tensions between Netanyahu and Milei due to the Israeli-owned Navitas Petroleum company\u2019s plans to carry out offshore drilling in the disputed Falkland Islands, expected to begin in 2028.<\/p>\n

Argentina\u2019s move would make it the eighth country to relocate its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, after the United States, Guatemala, Honduras, Fiji, Kosovo, Papua New Guinea, and Paraguay.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\tArgentinian President Javier Milei (left), Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (center), and US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee at a ceremony in Jerusalem on April 19, 2026. (Kobi Gideon\/ GPO)<\/p>\n

\u201cI stand here alongside two of President Trump\u2019s greatest allies,\u201d US Ambassador Huckabee said. \u201cI know of no leaders he respects more or with whom he has a closer personal bond.\u201d<\/p>\n

Milei and Netanyahu also announced direct flights would begin this year between the two countries. Milei said flights should begin in December. El Al Chairman Amikam Ben-Zvi confirmed the plans. Flights would take around 16 hours from Tel Aviv to Buenos Aires, and 15 hours to return.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have brought our people closer. Now we\u2019re bringing them even closer,\u201d Netanyahu said in remarks before the signing of the Isaac Accords.<\/p>\n

Netanyahu called Milei a \u201cpersonal friend and a great economic leader and great world leader\u201d and noted that it was the first time a foreign leader had been granted the honor to light the torch at the annual state Independence Day ceremony on Tuesday evening.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s never happened before, and it is right and just that it should happen now with Javier Milei,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Netanyahu also awarded Milei the Presidential Medal of Honor, which Regev boasted, \u201cMoney can\u2019t buy this,\u201d as she handed it to the prime minister, who handed it to Milei.<\/p>\n

Milei is a libertarian and ardent defender of the policies of both Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n

Milei, who was raised in a Catholic family but studied Jewish scripture, has cheered the US-Israeli strikes on Iran. Upon his arrival in Israel on Sunday, he paid a visit to the Western Wall in Jerusalem\u2019s Old City.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\tArgentina\u2019s President Javier Milei, center, visits the Western Wall in Jerusalem\u2019s Old City, April 19, 2026. (AP Photo\/Ohad Zwigenberg)<\/p>\n

Last month, he called Israel a \u201cstrategic ally\u201d of Argentina with \u201cshared values.\u201d<\/p>\n

Milei\u2019s government recently expelled Tehran\u2019s diplomatic envoy, after Iran objected to Argentina calling the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps a terrorist organization.<\/p>\n

Iran\u2019s foreign ministry accused Argentina of being \u201cpartners in crimes committed and on the wrong side of history.\u201d<\/p>\n

Argentina, for its part, has lambasted Iran\u2019s \u201cpersistent refusal\u201d to cooperate with the probe into a 1994 bombing in Buenos Aires that killed 85 people and injured more than 300 at a Jewish community center.<\/p>\n

Two years earlier, an explosion at the Israeli embassy killed 29 and wounded 200.<\/p>\n

Argentine courts have blamed both attacks on Iran, which has always denied involvement and refused to hand over suspects.<\/p>\n

Argentina is home to the largest Jewish community in Latin America, composed of nearly 300,000 people living mostly in Buenos Aires.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Argentinian President Javier Milei arrived in Israel on Sunday for his third trip in two years since his…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":400736,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[42,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":{"0":"post-400735","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-headlines","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-top-news","11":"tag-top-stories","12":"tag-topnews","13":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/400735","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=400735"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/400735\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/400736"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=400735"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=400735"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=400735"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}