Alberto Fernández will not attend the tribute for the 30th anniversary of the attack on the Israeli Embassy

As last year, on the anniversary of the explosion of the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association (AMIA), Alberto Fernández will not be present at the tribute that will be held tomorrow for the 30th anniversary of the attack on the Israeli Embassy, in the dry square where the diplomatic headquarters was located. Instead, he will send Justice Minister Martín Soria, a man close to Vice President Cristina Kirchner, who has been heavily questioned by the Jewish community since the signing of the controversial Memorandum with Iran.

However, in order to maintain the forms and make a gesture at a central date for the entities, the President received today at Casa Rosada the authorities of the Latin American Jewish Congress, who asked him a new request for the execution of Interpol's red alerts against the accused, and asked him about the Argentina's position on Russia's invasion of Ukraine. And on Friday he will receive Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Gideon Sa'ar.

The president of the Congress, Claudio Epelman, arrived at Casa Rosada along with the rest of the representatives of Latin American countries after 18.45, as foreseen in the official agenda. Alberto Fernández received him with the Chief of Staff, Juan Manzur, in the newly opened Women's Hall, on the first floor of the government palace. During the meeting, which lasted for less than an hour in a cordial tone, the President repeated to them, as on other occasions, that he considers that the attack was not only against the religious community, but against Argentina, and assured them that the impunity of the case was part of their concerns.

The Jewish leaders, for their part, raised the need to keep alive the memory of the terrorist attack and to act to “activate the mechanisms” aimed at finding those responsible, according to Apelman, journalists accredited at the Government headquarters. Asked about the President's absence from tomorrow's event, he said it was not his place to comment because it was an event organized by the Embassy.

Tomorrow, the Embassy organized a series of events commemorating the victims of the crime of March 17, 1992. An Israeli government delegation will be in the country, led by Deputy Prime Minister Gideon Sa'ar, who is also Minister of Justice. The main event will take place at 14.50, in the square on Calle Arroyo. Alberto Fernández, although he was invited, will not participate. He will send, on behalf of the Government, the head of Justice, Soria. Both officials will give speeches. Also participating will be the Israeli ambassador to Argentina, Galit Ronen, and the widow of Eli Ben Zeev, attaché to the embassy, one of those killed 30 years ago, Miriam Ben Zeev.

The event will have the bitter taste of always. The investigation into the attack, which resulted in 29 deaths and 242 injuries, and which was carried out by the Supreme Court of Justice, was never brought to trial nor were there any detainees.

In July last year, the day before the 27th anniversary of the attack on AMIA - which took place in 1997 and resulted in the death of 85 people - its owner, Ariel Eichbaum, also reiterated the request for the red alerts to Alberto Fernández and the Secretary of Worship, Guillermo Olivieri, at another meeting at the Government House. At that time, they demanded that the defendants, who have movements outside the places where they are protected, be followed up. They asked him to “be proactive”.

The next day, a ceremony was held to commemorate the crime, which, after almost three decades, remains unpunished. The date coincided with an important hearing in the context of the Memorandum case with Iran, where Cristina Kirchner asked for the nullity of the entire process that originated with the denunciation of late prosecutor Alberto Nisman. A few days earlier, the Delegation of Argentine Israeli Associations (DAIA), the complainant in the case, had unsuccessfully requested the Federal Oral Court 8 to postpone the hearing. The President did not attend the tribute, without giving explanations. There was speculation, then, with an attempt on his part to avoid creating a friction with the Vice-President.

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