Thirty years have passed since that dramatic day of March 17, 1992, in which our national sovereignty was violated with the demolition of the Israeli Embassy, an operation conceived, planned and executed by actors of a foreign State.
Many things have changed in the world and in our country since then. Today, telecommunications allow us to be updated in real time on what is happening anywhere on the planet. Our cell phones have become real laptops. Science has multiplied its advances in the most varied fields of our lives: from medicine, with new treatments for diseases that until a few years ago seemed incurable, to novel developments in agribusiness, the promotion of new energy sources, digital engineering, 3D printing or revolutionary advances in satellite technologies.
But in these three decades there was one fact that remained unchanged: the impunity of those responsible for such a savage attack. On March 17, international terrorism struck our continent for the first time and did so in the heart of Buenos Aires, something that was unthinkable up to that moment. The Dantes scenes that were experienced on Calle Arroyo at 900 were forever recorded in our retinas. The sirens of ambulances and patrol cars still ring in our ears. The requests for help and the heartbreaking cries of the survivors of that heinous act continue to accompany us, as if time had stopped at 14:45 on that sad day.
The direct target of terrorist disreason was the Embassy of the State of Israel in our country, but the attack sought, at the same time, to hit the heart of our democratic state and the lifestyle of Argentine society. That devious attack, carried out on our territory by the fundamentalist group Hezbollah, also had the unequivocal planning and support of a foreign State, in a clear violation of our national sovereignty.
On that day, 29 people were killed and 242 others were injured. The lives of those who survived the attack and those of their families were never the same again. However, the victims were not only those who perished; all Argentines experienced a sense of emptiness and horror in the face of an expression of violence, contempt and hatred unprecedented in our history. On the day of the attack, somehow, we all felt like dying.
The attack on the Israeli Embassy marked a turning point for our country. Unfortunately, that was not the only action of murderous terror against our nation. The scenes would be repeated two years later, when another attack, this time against the Argentinean Israelite Mutual Association (AMIA), would confirm the wrongdoing of those same foreign criminals against the model of peace, tolerance and coexistence among all Argentine citizens, whose roots extend to most diverse latitudes of the planet and whose history does not record cultural or religious antagonisms.
The explosion 30 years ago on Arroyo Street may have reduced the building of a diplomatic headquarters to rubble, but it failed to destroy the spirit of brotherhood with unbreakable ties that unite the Israeli people with the entire Argentine society.
Israel is a land of peace. The hand extended to its neighbors translated in 2020 into the historic Abraham Accords with Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, which were later added by the normalization of diplomatic relations with Morocco and Sudan. This climate of trust with the countries around them was confirmed by the recent visit of Israeli head of state Isaac Herzog to Turkey to meet with his counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
This series of agreements and approaches confirm the Israeli government's conviction to overcome past differences and disintelligences. However, despite this new climate of optimism and mutual trust, those responsible for the attacks on the Embassy and AMIA still persist with their preaching of hatred and destruction of the State of Israel, manifested in the repeated missile attacks on their territory.
Murderous madness can demolish buildings and cause death and injury, but it will never succeed in destroying the foundations of our society. Humanity has demonstrated, throughout its history, that life always prevails over death. Even in the darkest hours, peace always prevails.
Argentina has demonstrated that it has been and will continue to be a society characterized by tolerance and respect. Far from being paralyzed by the criminal actions of a group of fundamentalists alien to our way of life, Argentines continue to commit ourselves to upholding these values.
On this special day, we join the clamor for justice and reaffirm the emphatic call we have been making throughout these years to our political and judicial authorities to clarify this brutal action. We owe it to the victims and we owe it to ourselves as a country.
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