Argentinian President Javier Milei met former hostage Iair Horn at a ceremony marking 32 years since a deadly terror attack on the AMIA Jewish community building in Buenos Aires, Maariv reported on Saturday.
Israeli Ambassador to Argentina Eyal Sela informed Milei of Horn's presence at the Friday ceremony shortly after the president arrived. Sela then brought them together for a brief exchange before the event began, Argentinian news source AJN reported.
Horn is an Israeli with Argentinian citizenship who was abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz to Gaza alongside his younger brother, Eitan Horn, on October 7. Iair Horn was held for 498 days before being released, while Hamas kept his brother in captivity for 737 days.
The meeting between Milei and Horn was especially relevant given the event that marked the anniversary of a suicide bombing that killed 85 and injured 300 in 1994. The attack targeted the Asociación Mutual Israelita Argentina (AMIA), which was a Jewish community center in Buenos Aires.
The ceremony used the slogan "Today we cannot lose our memory," and began with a siren at 9:53 a.m. - the exact time the attack took place decades ago.
Investigation into the AMIA terror attack remains at an impasse
AMIA President Osvaldo Armosa condemned the standstill in the investigation into the terror attack at the event, saying the case is still "stuck, dormant, or buried in a drawer," even after 32 years, Maariv reported.
He went on to praise Milei's government and its support for Israel, underscoring the firm stance they maintain against Iran, the IRGC, and terrorist organizations.
Many other foreign leaders attended the ceremony, including the Secretary General of the Presidency, Karina Milei; Supreme Court ministers from Paraguay and Uruguay; Chilean deputies; and representatives of the US Anti-Defamation League.
Argentina's Ambassador to Israel Shimon Axel Wahnish spoke at a similar AMIA commemoration event in Jerusalem on Thursday, calling out the 1994 bombing as part of a chain of international terrorism as opposed to an isolated incident.
“For 32 years, I’ve been hearing that it was an attack against the Jewish community, against Argentina as a whole. But, even if both claims are true, I like to think of it as a wider attack against humanity as a whole,” said Wahnish at the ceremony held in the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem.