Milei says Argentina backs Israel as a “bastion of Western values” and warns attacks on it threaten the wider West

Argentine President Javier Milei reaffirmed his government’s alignment with Israel on Monday, saying Buenos Aires supports the country not because of a personal preference but because he sees it as a defender of Western civilization.

Speaking at the “Night of Celebration for Israel” at the Visión de Futuro church in Buenos Aires, Milei said Argentina had deliberately shifted its foreign policy toward Israel since the start of his presidency.

“We do not defend Israel because of some personal whim of the president,” Milei said. “We defend Israel because today it is the bastion of our values in the world against those who want to destroy us.”

He said those values were rooted in what he described as the Judeo-Christian foundations of the West, including life, liberty and property.

Milei also warned that attacks on Israel should be understood as attacks on the wider Western world.

“We must be clear that whoever messes with Israel messes with the entire West,” he said, adding that Argentina would “not rest for a single second” in protecting what he called its civilizational heritage.

The Argentine president invoked the story of the Maccabees, saying their resistance against a far more powerful empire showed that victory did not depend only on military strength.

Citing 1 Maccabees 3:19, Milei said: “Victory in battle does not depend on the number of soldiers, but on the strength that comes from heaven.”

“Today, much more than the size of its army, Israel upholds that same light against the darkness, and Argentina has chosen to stand by its side,” he said.

Milei also congratulated Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the results of Israel’s recent election and said the country needed strong leadership as it confronted what he described as a global resurgence of antisemitism.