A wide-ranging discussion on the evolving relationship between Israel's Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) community and broader society highlighted the complexities—and opportunities—facing the sector during a Monday afternoon panel at the inaugural JNS International Policy Summit in Jerusalem.

Moderated by Rabbi Yehoshua Pfeffer, rabbi of Ohr Chadash in Jerusalem and head of the Iyun Institute for Haredi Responsibility, the panel brought together religious leaders, advocates and entrepreneurs deeply invested in the future of ultra-Orthodox integration.

Panelists included Yossi Bluming, a Chabad-Lubavitch emissary and IDF paratrooper; Rabbi Moshe Weiss, a philanthropist and Zionist advocate; and Ori Eisenberg, chairman of JBH and Kodcode, organizations focused on workforce integration.

An inflection point for the workforce

Eisenberg described the current moment as a "growing inflection point," noting that 25% to 30% of ultra-Orthodox men today want to earn a living and join the workforce. "The will is there, the demand is there," he said. However, he cautioned that significant gaps remain in core skills such as math and English, with true success in tech and other industries currently achievable for only the top 15-20%. "The rest," he warned, "are doomed to not produce at the same level" unless the system adapts.

Shifts in internet use, academia and military service

Rabbi Weiss emphasized the diversity within the Haredi world, explaining that different subgroups—ranging from insular to modern—face distinct challenges when encountering academia, the workforce, internet use and army service. As chairman of NetSpark, a Family Safe Internet initiative, Weiss highlighted the success of disciplined internet usage: "Fifty thousand homes and 150,000 filtered smartphones later, most Haredi homes today don't use the internet for entertainment but for education and information."

This responsible approach, he said, has helped tens of thousands of ultra-Orthodox Jews earn academic degrees and move into professional fields, even as full acceptance of military service remains an ongoing, complex issue within the rabbinic leadership.

Signs of hope among youth

Bluming shared a moving personal story from his IDF service, recounting a mission that involved connecting with ultra-Orthodox youth in Jerusalem neighborhoods. "Before Oct. 7, the dialogue was full of chutzpah," he said, but postwar conversations showed "open eyes, open hearts." The shift left him optimistic about the younger generation's direction.

Looking forward: Leadership and policy changes

Looking ahead, Eisenberg stressed the need for internal change, both in political and rabbinic leadership, backed by responsible economic policies. He praised past reforms that incentivized greater participation by cutting subsidies, but warned that without a "right-wing economic approach," real progress would stall. "We need carrots and sticks," he said. "What we have now are only carrots."

Rabbi Weiss called for pragmatic solutions to bridge the gap between military needs and Haredi societal structures, suggesting that expanded national service frameworks could offer meaningful opportunities without threatening religious identity.

Bluming added a philosophical note, arguing that Israel's defense ethos must shift from ideological confrontation to practical unity. "In Chabad, we live this every day," he said. "Despite our differences, we bear the same burden."

A future of convergence

Rabbi Pfeffer closed the session by addressing a deeper tension: the traditional parallelism between Haredi society and the State of Israel. Full IDF integration, he argued, would represent the merging of these parallel lines into a shared national destiny. "It will happen," Pfeffer said, "and we pray that it happens in a way that brings salvation for all of Israel—together with the Haredi community."

Israel cannot accept a situation where hostages are returned while Hamas retains control of Gaza, Tzvika Mor, the father of Hamas hostage Eitan Mor, said on Monday at the JNS International Policy Summit in Jerusalem.

“We, at the Tikvah Forum, will never call to end this war and surrender to Hamas,” Mor told the crowd.

His son Eitan, the eldest of eight children, was working as a security guard at the Supernova music festival near Kibbutz Re'im on Oct. 7, 2023. According to Mor, Eitan saved dozens of people before being abducted by Hamas at around 12:30 p.m.

“The last thing we know Eitan did was attempt to rescue the body of a girl who had been raped and murdered. This is Eitan’s character—courage, determination and concern for others,” said Mor.

He emphasized that his family remains hopeful. “We know Eitan is alive, and we expect to see him soon. But we are still at war with an enemy who wants to destroy us. Eitan is the great-grandson of Holocaust survivors, my grandparents, most of whom were imprisoned in concentration camps,” he said.

His appearance at the summit was not a plea for mercy but a reminder of Israel’s enduring spirit, he continued.

“Like the Bibas family, the Nazis murdered my grandfather’s wife and two children," said Mor, referring to Shiri Bibas and her two children, Ariel and Kfir, who were kidnapped on Oct. 7 and murdered in captivity by Hamas.

"After the Holocaust, he remarried my grandmother. My grandparents came from Hungary and Romania; my wife’s grandparents came from Germany and Romania,” he continued.

“Millions of us were killed and burned, but the Jewish nation will remain forever. We are not a people that exist only for ourselves. On the first day of our Jewish calendar, we pray for the benefit of all humanity. Even today, facing the new Nazis in Gaza, we are humanity’s messenger to destroy them,” he said.

“This war must end with Hamas destroyed, Hamas surrendered, and all hostages returned," he concluded.

Mor spoke during the Hostages, Victims, and Public Policy panel, which also featured Cochav Elkayam-Levy, chair of Israel's civil commission investigating Hamas’s crimes against women and children on Oct. 7.

“I stand before you after months of painful documentation, carrying the voices of hundreds of victims—voices that now, more than ever, demand action,” she said.

She detailed the systematic torture families endured at the hands of Hamas, describing it as a previously undefined crime against humanity.

“Chilling patterns emerged: the same cruelty repeated across different places, families and moments. Parents murdered before their children’s eyes, children executed while holding their parents' arms, families burned alive together, entire families taken hostage,” she said.

“Families were not random victims; they were the target. Hamas understood that torturing families creates suffering so deep it is a grief without end. Together with professor Irwin Cotler, we gave this evil a name: 'kinocide,'” she continued.

Elkayam-Levy warned that the terror was ongoing.

“Terrorist organizations worldwide are watching. The absence of consequences normalizes the destruction of families as a weapon of war,” she said.

Also speaking at the summit, Religious Zionism lawmaker Simcha Rothman addressed the panel titled "Establishing a New Conceptzia," where he criticized negotiations with Hamas.

“I am optimistic we will release the hostages. I am pessimistic every time I hear about negotiations,” Rothman told JNS. “The way to return the hostages is not to negotiate—not through Qatar, not through Egypt, not through anyone. You do not negotiate with terrorists.”

Rothman called for a tougher stance, likening the needed approach to that of U.S. President Donald Trump.

“We must tell Hamas, tell Gaza, tell the world: We want all our hostages back immediately, dead or alive, or we will open the gates of hell over you,” he said.

“The cost must be paid 100% by Hamas and the terrorists — not by the victims,” he added.

Meanwhile, hopes for a ceasefire deal remain dim.

“There is no common goal between the sides, and in my opinion, the chances are low,” Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani told reporters on Sunday during a joint press conference with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan in Doha.

He acknowledged “some progress” after Hamas representatives met with mediators in Cairo, but said efforts to push for a renewed ceasefire would continue.

At the same time, Mossad Director David Barnea traveled to Qatar on Thursday amid renewed attempts to secure the release of the remaining 59 Israeli captives, who have been held in Gaza for nearly 570 days.

According to Israel Hayom, sources familiar with the talks said Doha backed Hamas’s rejection of the latest U.S. proposal.

The Israel Defense Forces reportedly plans to increase military pressure in Gaza if negotiations stall. Israeli officials, however, are holding off for now to give the talks a chance.

Qatar is said to be pressuring Hamas to reject the latest deal, suggesting that by holding out, the group could secure a more favorable agreement—possibly including a multi-year truce with international guarantees, Gaza’s rehabilitation and the preservation of Hamas’s rule. Israel’s stated war goals include the complete dismantling of Hamas’s military and governmental infrastructure.

Masa Israel Journey will hold its 17th annual Yom Hazikaron ceremony at the Armored Corps memorial site at Latrun, bringing together more than 4,500 expected attendees in what will be the largest English-language commemoration of its kind, with countless more viewers participating online.

This year's commemoration of Remembrance Day for the Fallen of Israel’s Wars and Victims of Terrorism carries heightened significance in the aftermath of the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas-led onslaught, the ongoing war and increasing global antisemitism.

Under the theme "Together We Remember," the ceremony will provide a space for collective mourning during this challenging time for Israel and Jewish communities worldwide.

The commemoration will feature government representatives, including Israeli Cabinet Secretary Yossi Fuchs, alongside Jewish community leaders such as Rebecca Caspi, senior VP at the Jewish Federations of North America Israel, and Yehudah Setton, CEO of the Jewish Agency for Israel.

“On Yom Hazikaron, we come together with deep sadness and a strong sense of responsibility. We remember the brave men and women who gave their lives for the State of Israel. Their memory serves as a moral compass, connecting the past to the future,” said Maj. Gen. (res.) Doron Almog, chairman of the Jewish Agency.

The ceremony will honor several fallen individuals, including Capt. Daniel Peretz, a South African-born platoon commander whose body remains in Gaza. The event will also memorialize Sgt. Maj. Ronny Ganizate, a French-born soldier and Masa alumnus who was killed in action in Southern Lebanon on Sept. 10, 2024, leaving behind a wife and young children.

Among others to be remembered is Sgt. Ilan Cohen, an Argentinian soldier and Masa alumnus killed in action in Gaza on May 13, 2024, while participating in an operation that recovered four kidnapped bodies.

The ceremony will also honor Hersh Goldberg-Polin, born in Berkeley, California, who was kidnapped from the Nova Festival on Oct. 7 and later killed in Hamas captivity, with his body recovered on Sept. 1, 2024. His mother Rachel has become one of the most prominent advocates for hostage families.

Brazilian-born Bruna Valeanu, who made aliyah in 2014 and served as a shooting instructor in the Israeli military, will be remembered after being murdered at the Nova Festival on Oct. 7. Fellow Brazilian Hanani Glazer, who became a lone soldier in the Golani Brigade at age 16, will also be commemorated after being killed when terrorists attacked a shelter where he was hiding near Kibbutz Re'im.

Additionally, Ukraine-born Inspector Andrei Poshibai, who served in the Southern Region of the Israeli Police, will be honored for his heroism in rescuing people from the Nova Festival before being killed in a confrontation with terrorists.

Meir Holtz, CEO of Masa Israel Journey, emphasized the importance of the multilingual ceremony: "Yom HaZikaron, our Day of Remembrance, is an essential part of Israel and the Jewish people. Each year, we hold the ceremony in English and other languages, primarily to make this day accessible to Masa fellows in Israel—in a language they understand and with content they can relate to.

"This year, this goal feels more important than ever. The Jewish people are at a pivotal moment, our unity and solidarity are critical. That's why this year's ceremony theme is—'Together We Remember'. This ceremony is for us to focus on the heroes, cherish the world they left behind and try to be worthy of their sacrifice. May their memory be a blessing."

Current Masa fellows will also participate by honoring their personal connections to fallen loved ones, including Capt. Omer Neutra, a soldier still held in Gaza whose childhood friend Abigail will speak at the ceremony, and Capt. Yogev Pazy, killed in action in Gaza in November 2024. He served as an emissary at a U.S. Jewish summer camp where he befriended Sofia, an American now participating in a Masa program in Israel.

The solemn event will conclude with wreaths laid by bereaved families and representatives from the Israeli government, Knesset, and global Jewish organizations, including Keren Hayesod and the Jewish Federations of North America.

Originally published by Israel Hayom.

Fifty-nine runners dedicated their London Marathon medals on Sunday to the remaining 59 hostages held by Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip.

"Each participant ran the grueling 26.2-mile course wearing a yellow hat bearing the name of their dedicated hostage, carrying a photograph of the individual, and displaying the iconic yellow ribbon that has become the international symbol of the campaign to bring the hostages home," the Hostage and Missing Families Forum said in a statement.

The action "created a visible stream of hope through London's streets, catching the attention of thousands of spectators and reminding the world to not give up the fight for the hostages as they remain in Hamas captivity," added the forum.

Two demonstrators disrupted the marathon by throwing red powder across Tower Bridge and calling for a trade embargo against Israel.

The protest, organized by activist group Youth Demand, took place around 10:35 a.m. during the elite men’s race, the London Standard newspaper reported. Two individuals crossed the barriers and threw the substance onto the roadway before the City of London Police swiftly detained them.

Youth Demand identified the activists as Willow Holland, 18, from Bristol, and Cristy North, a live-in carer from Nottingham. Both wore T-shirts emblazoned with the message: “Youth Demand: Stop Arming Israel.”

In a statement shared by the group, Holland said she joined the protest out of frustration as traditional demonstrations had failed to stop British support for Israel. “Thousands are being killed in Gaza, our government is doing nothing, and I refuse to be complicit in a genocide funded by our politicians,” she said.

North stated, “Palestinians are running out of time. Our government is still arming Israel despite widespread public outcry, making us complicit in breaching both U.K. domestic and international humanitarian law.”

The group cited a recent United Nations World Food Programme report, which said that food supplies in Gaza had been fully depleted as a result of Israel’s blockade. However, this fails to address Hamas’s practice of stealing and hoarding the hundreds of thousands of tons of aid that Israel allowed into the Strip, as well as social media posts emerging from Gaza, which show bountiful amounts of foodstuffs.

Despite the disruption, there appeared to be no impact on the race. The BBC’s coverage cut to the men's elite race moments after the leaders had crossed Tower Bridge, and the event continued without further incident.

More than 56,000 runners are participating in this year’s 26.2-mile race, the 45th edition of the TCS London Marathon.

Caroline Glick, international affairs adviser to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, delivered a powerful keynote address on Monday at the inaugural JNS International Policy Summit in Jerusalem, urging a return to unapologetic Jewish sovereignty and a total rejection of the "dangerous illusions" surrounding the failed two-state solution.

Glick, a former senior contributing editor at the Jewish News Syndicate and host of "The Caroline Glick Show" on JNS TV, told the audience it was "so strange" yet "like coming home" to be visiting JNS, calling the truth "the best item you can ever try to sell," and praising the "amazing truth to tell with the Jewish people."

Speaking during what she called a uniquely significant moment in the Jewish and Israeli calendar—the second "10 days of awe" between Israel's Holocaust Remembrance Day and Independence Day—Glick said these days serve as a guidepost for national reflection.

"We start by remembering that we once lacked the capacity to defend ourselves," she said. "Antisemitism is eternal hatred. Zionism was never about ending antisemitism—it was about eradicating the ability of antisemites to carry out genocide against the Jewish people."

Glick framed the current war in Gaza as a “war of redemption”—both to redeem the remaining Israeli hostages and to redeem the nation’s clarity of purpose. She warned that basing national policy on "forgetting the lessons of these 10 days of awe"—as occurred with the Oslo Accords—nearly led to catastrophe.

"The point of Zionism is to prevent the eradication of the Jewish people at the hands of antisemites," she said, sharply criticizing the decades-long policy of appeasing the Palestinian Authority. "The two-state solution is dead," Glick declared. "The end-state of a Palestinian state is genocide."

Glick pointed to Gaza as the "control group," where Palestinian self-rule turned into a terror machine. "After the 2005 disengagement, Gaza became Afghanistan," she said. "We saw the tunnels, the terror, and on Oct. 7, we saw the consequences."

Key to Israel’s redemption, she emphasized, is reclaiming its narrative unapologetically: "We are done making excuses for people who want to kill our children," Glick said. "We are done."

She lamented that for decades, Israeli leaders failed to tell the truth—that no nation has a deeper connection to its land than the Jewish people. "We were the first sovereign nation-state. We built it at Mount Sinai," Glick noted. "This is our land, legally, historically—ours, all of it."

Addressing the Iranian threat, Glick warned that while the mullahs place Israel first on their target list, the rest of the world is only minutes behind when missiles are involved. "It always starts with the Jews," she said, recalling how many underestimated Hitler until it was too late.

Looking ahead to Remembrance Day for the Fallen of Israel’s Wars and Victims of Terrorism and Independence Day, Glick said most Israelis today fully grasp the stakes. "We are redeeming ourselves," she said. "We are removing all obstacles to securing our future—as Jews, as Israelis."

Closing her remarks, Glick praised the leadership of Netanyahu and the bravery of Israel’s soldiers. "As my boss says: Together we will fight, and together we will win. Am Yisrael Chai."

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar went on the offensive on Monday against the U.N., accusing it of antisemitism, complicity in terrorism, and anti-Israel bias with its legal action against Jerusalem over the UNRWA aid agency for Palestinians.

Sa’ar did this in a fiery speech at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Jerusalem, where he elaborated on his decision, communicated Sunday at the JNS International Policy Summit, to have Israel sit out hearings this week at a U.N. tribunal on the legality of Israel’s decision to stop cooperating with UNRWA and ban its activity on Israeli territory.

Presenting evidence that 25% of UNRWA’s staff in Gaza were implicated in terrorist activity before Oct. 7, 2023, Sa’ar said: “The U.N. must answer for these crimes. Secretary-General [António] Guterres is personally accountable. He knew what was going on in UNRWA. He knew very well and he knows very well. Israel repeatedly warned him. He did nothing. He went out of his way to whitewash UNRWA.”

Israel, Sa’ar said, “refuses to sit on the bench of the accused in the U.N.'s political side,” the foreign minister said of the tribunal, the International Court of Justice in The Hague. “No country in this position would. It is the U.N. and UNRWA that should be on trial today, not Israel,” Sa’ar said.

The U.N. “has become a rotten, anti-Israel and antisemitic body. Clear evidence shows that under the U.N. and its secretary-general, UNRWA employed terrorists who took an active part in the Oct. 7 massacre. It then covered it up,” Sa’ar said. “We will not grant any legitimacy to this farce if the ICJ continues to be abused like the ICC [International Criminal Court] for antisemitic purposes.

Sa’ar went on to reference Émile Zola’s iconic “J’Accuse...!” letter of 1898, in which he drew international attention to the antisemitic prosecution of army officer Alfred Dreyfus on false charges of treason.

"I accuse UNRWA, I accuse the U.N., I accuse the secretary general, and I accuse all those that weaponized international law and its institutions in order to deprive the most attacked country in the world, Israel, of its most basic right to defend itself," said Sa’ar, who spoke next to a large banner with the word “J’Accuse” on it next to portraits of Guterres and UNRWA’s chief officer, Philippe Lazzarini.

Amir Weisbrod, deputy director general for the Israel Foreign Ministry’s U.N. and International Organizations Division, presented data according to which 1,462 UNRWA employees in Gaza were involved in terrorist activities before the Oct. 7, 2023, invasion of Israel led by Hamas, whose terrorists murdered some 1,200 people and abducted another 251.

 In November, Israel cut all ties with UNRWA operations in Gaza, Judea and Samaria and Jerusalem, in accordance with a law passed after evidence surfaced of Hamas’s infiltration of the agency.

In Israel, experts on UNRWA, including former Knesset member Einat Wilf, dispute claims that Israel’s refusal to work with UNRWA contradicts international law. Israel is not party to any treaty compelling it to engage with the group or allow its activities, Wilf told JNS.

UNRWA provides food, education and medical care to two million people in Gaza. Hundreds of UNRWA workers are believed to have engaged in terrorism in recent years, including on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas-led terrorists invaded Israel. At least one of them was filmed loading the corpse of an Israeli into a vehicle.

Lazzarini has denied allegations of massive complicity by UNRWA in terrorist activities.

That complicity led to the passing of laws banning Israeli officials from engaging with UNRWA and banning the agency’s activities in Israel.

Through UNRWA, the United Nations employs a unique refugee definition for Palestinians. UNRWA defines as refugees not only those who fled Israel’s War of Independence in 1948, but also all their descendants in perpetuity, until a “just solution” emerges for their status. Critics accused the United Nations of insisting on this definition, preserved through UNRWA, to perpetuate the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

The Iranian government has exploited weak U.S. policies to strengthen its influence and enable attacks like the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas massacre, a prominent American evangelical leader said Monday.

Speaking at the JNS Policy Summit in Jerusalem, Pastor John Hagee, founder and chairman of Christians United for Israel, criticized multiple American administrations for what he described as years of appeasement toward Tehran.

“America’s capitulation to Iran a decade ago broke our promise to never again abandon the Jewish people,” Hagee said. “As a result, the Iranian government has played multiple American administrations like a fiddle.”

Hagee said U.S. policies had “at least in part” enabled the Oct. 7 attack, the deadliest assault on Jews since the Holocaust. “We must remember: in war, there is no substitute for victory,” he said.

The remarks come as the United States holds talks with Iran over its advancing nuclear program. Hagee praised Trump for withdrawing from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal brokered by President Barack Obama, but avoided directly criticizing current negotiations.

“Gone are the days when pallets of cash will resolve our problems with Iran,” Hagee said to loud applause. “Either the Islamic Republic will dismantle its nuclear program voluntarily, or the free world will do it for them.”

Addressing divisions within the Republican Party, Hagee warned against isolationism.

“As enemies of Israel and America integrate, America must never isolate,” he said, repeating the line twice for emphasis.

Fresh off a visit to the Auschwitz death camp in Poland as part of the March of the Living, Hagee said his faith in prayer was matched by a call to action.

“I wept and prayed not only for the past, but also for our failures here and now,” said Hagee, 85. “But we do not just pray. We do not just speak. We take action.”

Hagee denounced antisemitism among "false Christians" and compared modern outbreaks of hatred to the violence of the Crusades. He also criticized continued international support for a two-state solution following the Oct. 7 attack.

“Hamas killed the two-state solution on Oct. 7,” he said. “The world can no more allow Palestinian terrorists to retake Gaza than it would have allowed the Nazis to retake Germany after the Holocaust.”

Hagee said his views were grounded in his faith.

“The Bible has a one-state solution: Israel today, Israel tomorrow and Israel forever,” he said.

Renowned filmmaker Quentin Tarantino and his spouse, Israeli singer Daniella Pick, recently bought property in Tel Aviv for an estimated 50 million shekels (~$13.8 million), Hebrew media reported on Sunday.

The land, approximately half an acre, currently has two old buildings on it, according to Israeli business daily Globes.

The couple plans to demolish the two adjacent houses and erect one large home instead, according to the report.

The property is situated in the northern Tel Aviv neighborhood of Tel Baruch, at the corner of Yaakov and Maskit Streets. The neighborhood boasts relatively large homes on spacious lots, and provides plenty of privacy for its residents north of the Yarkon River.

Many are currently being demolished in favor of newer, more contemporary homes.

The two lots purchased by the famous couple are a combined 23,464 square feet, according to Globes.

The previous owner, Israeli businessman Nissim Cabilly, bought the land for 35 million shekels ($9.7 million) in 2021, according to the report.

Tarantino and Pick have been looking for a house in the area for years, the report added.

Currently they live in a rented apartment in northern Tel Aviv near the city’s largest plaza, Kikar HaMedina.

Globes reported that the new property was registered four months ago in the names of Pick and Quentin Jerome Zastoupil, which is the surname of Tarantino’s adoptive father.

In May 2024, it was announced that Pick has been cast as the lead female role in a new American action thriller titled “The Perfect Gamble,” and directed by Israeli-American producer and filmmaker Danny A. Abeckaser (Danny A.).

In the film, Pick will star alongside actors David Arquette (“Scream”) and Danny A. in the leading roles. The movie, produced by Yoav Gross, will be shot in Israel and follows the story of two gamblers who are released from prison and open an illegal casino. Pick is set to portray the girlfriend of one of the two protagonists, who become entangled with the mafia throughout the film.

Eight days after the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas-led invasion of southern Israel, Tarantino paid a surprise visit to the western Negev to visit military bases and support the Israel Defense Forces.

Tarantino toured the area, spoke to soldiers, encouraged them and took pictures with them.

Tarantino and Pick have lived in Israel for four years with their son and daughter.

Argentinian President Javier Milei will visit Israel in June, in his second trip to the country in as many years, Buenos Aires’s ambassador to the Jewish state said at the JNS International Policy Summit in Jerusalem on Sunday.

The Argentine leader has emerged as one of Israel’s most vocal supporters around the globe, firmly aligning himself with Jerusalem and Washington.

Milei will sign a memorandum of understanding with Israel against terrorism and antisemitism during his visit, Ambassador Shimon Axel Wahnish said at the JNS Policy Summit.

He is also scheduled to give an address at the Israeli parliament, which was originally scheduled for March, and to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The Argentine ambassador said that he hopes to announce the start of direct flights between Tel Aviv and Buenos Aeries within the next two months, and to open an embassy in Jerusalem in the coming year as Milei has pledged.

Wahnish said that he envisioned an "Isaac Accords" between Israel and many countries in Latin America, modeled on the landmark 2020 Abraham Accords between Israel and four Arab countries forged under the first Trump administration.

"This is going to be just the beginning," the ambassador said.

Milei has broken with decades of Argentine foreign policy by siding firmly with Israel since taking office in December 2023, propelling relations between the two nations to unprecedented heights. Diplomatic ties between the countries were first established 75 years ago.

Last year, in his first official trip as president, Milei paid a wartime solidarity visit to Israel, where he reiterated his pledge to move his country’s embassy to Jerusalem.

An iconoclast and political outsider, Milei was elected in November 2023 amid an economic crisis and skyrocketing inflation that has long beleaguered the South American country, which is making major strides toward recovery under his leadership.

A week after his election victory, he visited the United States for government meetings, stopping at the grave in New York of the Lubavitcher Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson. It was his third such visit that year.

Since taking office, Milei has listed Hamas as a terrorist organization and called out Iran’s terrorism, vowing to try in absentia Iranian suspects in the 1994 bombing of the AMIA Jewish Community Center in Buenos Aires.

Earlier this year, Milei declared two days of national mourning for the Bibas children, Ariel, 4, and nine-month-old baby Kfir, who were murdered in captivity by Palestinian terrorists in Gaza, along with their mother, Shiri. The family, which held Israeli, Argentine and German citizenship, had become symbols of the plight of the 251 hostages abducted by Hamas during the terrorist group’s Oct. 7, 2023, invasion of southern Israel.