NEW YORK – The World Jewish Congress today welcomed Thursday’s ruling by an Argentine federal court declaring that Argentina’s memorandum of understanding with Iran to probe the 1994 bombing of the AMIA Jewish center in Buenos Aires was unconstitutional. The agreement is therefore not applicable unless the ruling is overturned by the Supreme Court.
“This July will be the 20th anniversary of the deadly attack on the AMIA/DAIA Jewish Community Center in Buenos Aires, in which 85 people were murdered and hundreds of others wounded in a terror attack which, according to evidence presented by the Argentine judiciary, was ordered by Iran,” World Jewish Congress President Ronald Lauder said.
“It would send a strong signal to the international community and world Jewry if the government of Argentina were to accept this ruling and not appeal it before the Supreme Court. It is time to leave this episode, which has hurt the feelings of many in the Jewish community, behind us and to give new momentum to bringing the perpetrators to justice. The names of those who ordered this crime are known, and some of them were in senior positions in the Iranian government.
“This memorandum of understanding signed with a sponsor of international terrorism was flawed in its very conception, and, not surprisingly, the regime in Tehran has systematically refused to cooperate in the investigation of this despicable attack,” Lauder added.
The World Jewish Congress has consistently supported Argentine Jewry in its efforts to rescind the memorandum, and in April the WJC Executive passed a resolution calling on all its affiliates to press their governments to put pressure on Iran to immediately turn over to the Argentine judiciary the Iranian nationals who are wanted by Interpol in connection with the bombing.
