Argentina’s government has suspended plans announced by President Javier Milei to move the country’s embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
According to information released by Israeli broadcaster Channel 12 over the weekend, the suspension of the transfer process occurred due to a project by the Israeli company Navitas Petroleum to carry out offshore drilling near the Falkland Islands, a plan estimated at US$2.1 billion and scheduled to begin in 2028.
In December, the Argentine government had already criticized Navitas and the British company Rockhopper, also involved in the project, calling it “illegitimate” based on a 1976 UN resolution, which prohibits “unilateral decisions” on the Falklands while the dispute between Argentina and the United Kingdom over the archipelago is ongoing.
According to information from The Times of Israel, the country’s Foreign Minister, Gideon Sa’ar, informed Argentina that the Israeli government is not involved in the project.
The ministry stated in a statement that Argentina “is one of Israel’s best and closest friends, and there is continuous and close contact between the leadership of Israel and Argentina” and that the issue “will continue to be discussed between the parties”.
During a visit to Israel in June last year, Milei said that the promise he had made to transfer the Argentine embassy in the country from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem would be fulfilled in 2026.
Most countries maintain their embassies in Israel in Tel Aviv and only seven have their representations in Jerusalem: Fiji, Guatemala, Honduras, Kosovo, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay and the United States.
The dispute between Argentines and British over the Falklands led to war between the two countries in 1982.
In a referendum held in 2013 with inhabitants of the Falklands, 99.8% of the archipelago’s residents said they preferred it to maintain its status as a British overseas territory.
