BUENOS AIRES - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Tuesday of the threat of Iranian terror and praised Argentina’s President Mauricio Macri’s efforts to "catch the culprits” behind the 1994 bombing of the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association (AMIA) building in Buenos Aires. The prime minister was visiting Argentina in the first leg of his three-country tour in Latin America, his debut visit to the country,
"The time has come to ascribe to Iran the complete guilt,” Netanyahu told a crowd which included Macri and Jewish communal leaders at the AMIA building.
Among those present were the main Jewish members of the national cabinet, the Minister of Environment and Sustainable Development, Sergio Bergman, and the Secretary of Human Rights, Claudio Avruj.
Also present were the president of the Latin American Jewish Congress, Adrián Werthein; National Institute Against Discrimination President Claudio Presman; Sergio Kutchevasky, of the Archivo Nacional de la Memoria; and the president of the Argentine Zionist Organization, Sergio Pikholtz; among others.
"23 years ago a cruel hand was sent to the AMIA and turned it into a mountain of dust. Now the AMIA is rising again higher and more imposing, like Israel, which is a world power in every respect,” Netanyahu said.
"The Iranian threat is permanent and involves Latin America. Israel was and will continue to be the spearhead against global terrorism," he promised. "I know the horror and I know what it is to lose loved ones in the war against terrorism… We feel the pain and we share it," he continued. "We also share a commitment to fight against evil and erase terrorism from the face of the earth.”
Speaking at a gathering in Buenos Aires in July, Latin American Jewish Congress President Adrian Werthein said that the Jewish community would "not stop in our efforts to achieve justice.”
“Not only are we here to demand justice but also to work together with legislators in the region to prevent a terrorist attack from happening again in our countries,” said LAJC Executive Director Claudio Epelman at the time. “The bombings in Buenos Aires are a sign that terrorism can strike anywhere.”