(c) Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs
On 17 March 1992, 29 people were killed and around 250 wounded in a Hezbollah-linked truck bombing at the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The bombing was Argentina's deadliest terror attack until the Hezbollah orchestrated bombing of the Asociación Mutual Israelita Argentina (AMIA) in 1994, and remains the deadliest attack on an Israeli diplomatic mission.
A group called the Islamic Jihad Organization, which has been linked to Iran and Hezbollah, claimed responsibility for the attack.
The investigation of the bombing was assigned to Argentina's Supreme Court, but for over two years, the investigation languished. Virtually no action has been taken, even though Islamic Jihad had claimed responsibility for the explosion.
In 1995, with the case still lagging , Chief Justice Ricardo Levene, the judge overseeing the investigation retired. Following his retirement, no judge was appointed to continue his investigation and the investigation hit a standstill. Still, no one accused of the orchestrating or carrying out the attack has been arrested and there have been relatively few developments.
In 1998, a telephone call intercepted from the Iranian embassy in Argentina implicated Iran in the attack on the embassy. While Argentina proceeded to expel six Iranian diplomats from the country, it was never determined which specific individuals were culpable for the attack.
On 23 December 1999, the Argentine Supreme Court determined that the "the attack committed against the Embassy of Israel in Argentina was organized and carried out by the terrorist group called Islamic Jihad, an armed wing of Hezbollah.”
In October 2015, Argentina's Supreme Court issued international arrest warrants for two Hezbollah operatives – Hussein Muhammad Ibrahim Suliman and Jose Selan al-Ridah for their involvement in the bombing.
In November 2017, the Argentina Senate unanimously passed a law calling for an annual memorial day on March 17 in condemnation of the embassy attack and in honor of its victims. The legislation also called for the Ministry of Education to “to raise awareness about the consequences of international terrorism and in favor of peace and nonviolence." The legislation passed a little over a decade after the Argentina Parliament passed legislation compensating victims of the 1992 attack.
In 2019, on the 25th anniversary of the attack on the AMIA bombing, the Argentine government designated Hezbollah as a terrorist organization and froze the group’s financial assets. The decision was welcomed by WJC President Ronald S. Lauder as a “long-awaited and principled step.”
