A delegation of survivors of the 1992 attack on the Israeli embassy in Argentina is visiting Israel, led by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and held a meeting with Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar. During Sa’ar’s visit to Argentina in November, Sa’ar invited the survivors he met with to visit the country.
On March 17, 1992, a suicide bomber detonated a truck bomb in front of the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires, an explosion that caused the complete collapse of the building, the murder of 29 civilians (including Israeli diplomats and employees, local workers and others), and the wounding of 242 additional civilians. Those who initiated, planned, and carried out this murderous attack were Iran and Hezbollah.
The survivors’ delegation consists of 12 people, all local Argentinians who worked at the embassy at the time of the attack, and some of whom were wounded in it. All participants lost colleagues and good friends in the attack, and the trauma accompanies them to this day.
Sa’ar presented certificates of appreciation and esteem to the survivors for their contribution to the State of Israel. He also thanked them for their contribution to preserving the memory and providing testimony over the years.
After years during which the investigation of the attack did not advance significantly, the rise to power of President Javier Milei led to a profound change and turned the fight against Iranian terrorism into a central axis of foreign policy.
The Argentine Congress amended the criminal code to allow for full trials in absentia of the accused, thereby stripping immunity from senior foreign officials who refuse to turn themselves in.
On April 11, 2024, Argentina’s Federal Criminal Cassation Court ruled that the attack, and the 1994 bombing of the AMIA Jewish community center, were crimes against humanity not subject to statutes of limitations, and held that Iran planned the attacks and was a “terrorist state,” and that Hezbollah carried them out. This enabled the prosecution to begin proceedings for filing indictments against senior Iranian officials and Hezbollah operatives.
