Image: matimop.org.il
TEL AVIV, Israel – Héctor Timerman, the Foreign Minister of Argentina, said that his country is currently enjoying a “very good moment” in its relations with Israel, denying any notions of strain between Buenos Aires and Jerusalem.
Image: matimop.org.il
In the midst of his trip, Timerman was joined by his Israeli counterpart, Avigdor Lieberman, and the two signed a program on the cooperation of education and coproduction of cinematic works in both nations.
The education segment was part of the Cultural Exchange Agreement signed by both nations in 1957, and it will focus on the field of education and its areas through the exchange of information, experience, written works and expert individuals with a particular focus on the language, literature, history and culture of the other nation.
Additionally, the agreement’s fundamental aspect is the commitment to the fight against racism in both nations, as well as the fight against anti-semitism and xenophobia. In Argentina, more pupils will learn about the Holocaust and the history of the Jewish community in Nazi-occupied Europe while Israeli students will be enlightened in the history of Argentina and Latin America.
High school and college students in both nations will be given matching grants to study in the other nation, and they will be taught courses both in Hebrew and Castilian; the students will also be able to qualify for specialization scholarships, especially for graduate students and researchers, and their respective institutions will exchange publications and research materials.
The segment concerning film seeks to encourage co-production of audiovisual productions and the sharing of the intellectual properties of directors, producers and other individuals involved with the production of the arts who choose to be part of the agreement.
Timerman’s mostly technical meeting with Lieberman follows days of much more emotional activities and political conversations.
After he arrived in Israel, Timerman met with the Israeli President Shimon Peres, who sought to “expand bilateral ties” with Buenos Aires.
“Argentina, for us as Israelis and Jews, has served as a Jewish center for a very long time, and even Hezbollah knew this and that is why they went there to carry out their attacks,” Peres said, referring to the destructive bombings carried out in the early 1990s in Buenos Aires that targeted Jews.
Timerman added that “Israel knows, and can confirm this once again, that it always can count on Argentina in us making ourselves available in any form to help out with the peace process” with Palestine.
Earlier that day, the Argentine Foreign Minister, who himself is Jewish, took part in the Holocaust Remembrance Day ceremonies at the Yad Vashem memorial on Mount Herzl (Mount of Remembrance) in Jerusalem.
Sirens began to sound across Israel in the morning (10:00) and continued for two minutes while all work was stopped, cars stopped in traffic and people bowed their heads in memory of those lost in the Holocaust.
The Israeli government invited Timerman to lay a wreath at the Warsaw Ghetto Square at Yad Vashem, and he was accompanied there by Peres and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who both spoke. Then, six Holocaust survivors lit candles in remembrance of the six million Jews killed.
“This was an emotional moment for me,” Timerman said, “because in Argentina, there are many people who were holocaust survivors or relatives of survivors, many of whom I had personally grown up around and met as a child.”
“For me, my presence and participation here today signifies a recognition and support for those who found refuge in Argentina and rebuilt their lives in our country. It reminds me of Sara Rus, a survivor of the Holocaust who relocated to Argentina only to have her son disappear during our bleak time in history, the dictatorship,” (1976-1983) said the Foreign Minister, whose father was a Ukrainian Jew and emigrated to Argentina as a child.
After the ceremony, Timerman shared that “relations between Argentina and Israel are very good” and there “exists an important framework for cooperation between the two governments.”
“Argentina and Israe are two very friendy nations who share many of the same ideals,” said Timerman. His counterpart, Lieberman, expressed his wishes for the Argentine President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner to visit Israel and expressed his thanks for Argentina “producing” Pope Francis, a “leader for the world.”
In wrapping up his visit, Timerman met with the Israeli Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, the principal Israeli negotiator in its peace talks with Palestine, and he also spoke with representatives of Israeli and Palestinian NGOs working to foment peace in the region, who wished for Timerman to share with them his experiences of civil wars, unrest and human rights in Argentina and Latin America.
Timerman and Livni spoke about how the situation is presented across Latin America, and Timerman informed her that the situation is “certainly not alien” to the region as it is displayed on every newspaper in the world, including those printed in Latin America.
Argentina is a country that has a reputation of being a safe haven for Nazi war criminals in the aftermath of World War II. However, the South American country also accepted a large number of Jewish refugees fleeing Europe before, during, and after the war, more so than any other nation after the United States.
An estimated 300,000 Jews live in Argentina, the largest Jewish community in the Americas after the United States and one of the largest in the world. As such, Argentina’s large Jewish community has been targeted in the past.
On July 18, 1994, a catastrophic bomb attack destroyed the the AMIA building in Buenos Aires, killing 85 people and injuring well over 300 more. The building housed the Asociación Mutual Israelita Argentina (AMIA), a Jewish association organization and community center.
A Renault van was packed with nearly 300 kilograms of explosive materials, parked in front of the building, and was detonated. The case behind the attack has never been solved but it is thought that the Iran-funded Hezbollah was responsible.
The AMIA attack came two years after the 1992 bombing of the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires that killed 29 and wounded nearly 250 people. The Islamic Jihad Organization, a Shia fundamentalist group which was based in Lebanon, took responsibility for the bombing and said the attack was in retaliation for the death of Abbas al-Musawi, Hezbollah’s secretary general who was killed by the Israeli Defense Forces earlier that year.
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