Netanyahu To Be First Israeli PM To Visit Latin America

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is set to be the first Israeli PM to visit Latin America. According to ‘JTA’ news site, Netanya is expected to visit Argentina and Mexico this upcoming September.

Netanyahu will then fly directly to the New York where he will personally participate in the annual U.N. general assembly, and then make his way back to Israel for Rosh Hashanah.

“Latin America has traditionally enjoyed a positive relationship with Israel. But I think we are now at a time where those relations could be a lot closer” Netanyahu told president Jimmy Morles of Guatemala, last fall.

The visit will take place during the 70th anniversary of the historic U.N. partition vote of Palestine into Jewish and Arab state, which eventually led to Israel’s independence. Thirteen out of the 33 votes in favor of partition were from Latin American states.

Although Israel traditionally enjoyed a good relationship with Argentina, the ties were further strengthened with the election of President Martzius back in 2015.

To the contrary, the visit to Mexico will be taking place on a gloomier backdrop, after Mexico voted against Israel in the UNESCO vote last year, and after Mexico accused Netanyahu of meddling into their business after he tweeted support for Trump’s proposed border wall with Mexico.

Netanyahu will not be visiting Brazil this round, despite it being the largest south American nation, and hosting over 120,00 Jews. It is believed that Brazil was excluded from the itinerary due to its refusal to permit Dany Dayan, former Yesh”a council head, as ambassador to Brazil.

The appointment was denied after left wing groups exerted pressure on the Brazilian government to forbid the appointment of a so-called settler to an official post.
In an attempt to minimize the harshness of Netanyahu’s absence to Brazil, ambassador to Brazil Yosi Shely told a Sao Polo paper last Sunday: “Political topics are internal problems, and if the PM is to arrive in Brazil he prefers that the government in Brazil be stable- because there is no guarantee for the agreements that will be signed with the current government”.

Translated by Eli B.

'בחדרי' גם ברשתות החברתיות - הצטרפו!