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The results of the second round of the Argentine presidential elections, last Sunday, represented a surprise to most international public opinion, despite the high probability of their occurrence, as accepting the victory of the extreme liberal candidate Javier Meli, known as “The Crazy One,” became a fait accompli imposed by about 56% of voters. In contrast, his opponent, the current Minister of Economy, Sergio Massa, received 44%, with a participation rate of 76%.
Despite the dissatisfaction of some neighboring countries with this result, the biggest beneficiaries of it are: Israel and the United States, which Milley considered to be his two most important partners and his ideal. The newly elected president has a special relationship with Israel and the Jewish religion, which is very likely to make more noise than it did recently, after assuming the presidency.
Why did he win?
In order to learn about the features of Milley’s personality and the secret of his focus on Israel and the Jewish religion, we need to open a small window to first learn about Argentina’s political and economic situation, which made Milley win its presidency.
Argentina – the third largest economy in Latin America – has gone through a severe economic collapse in recent years, as a result of accumulated unsuccessful policies, exacerbated by the Corona pandemic. The level of inflation reached 143%, and the poverty rate affected 40% of society. Despite all the criticism directed at the outgoing Fernandez government and his deputy, Cristina Kirchner, the size of the debt to the International Monetary Fund, amounting to $44 billion, actually represents what remains of the largest loan in the country’s history, which their right-wing predecessor, Mauricio Macri, had received in 2018, amounting to $57 billion. But the systematic demonization of the “Kirchner” government – as the Argentines know it – made it responsible for all the country’s calamities, hastened its downfall, and imposed the harshest sanctions on it soon, as President-elect Milley promised. Noting also that the political differences – which penetrated the internal kitchen of the government of Fernandez and his deputy Kirchner, and amounted to a rift between the two largest heads of the presidential institution – brought down the ceiling on everyone, and some analysts considered it the “government of the prodigal son” of the Peronist system that has been in power for eight decades; (In reference to the school of the late President Juan Peron), which represented the pride of leftist thought in the eyes of most Argentines and the region. Knowing that the Vice President in the outgoing government, Christina Kirchner, and her husband entered the “Kirchnerian” phase, as a distinct period in the Peronist system, during their consecutive presidency from 2003 to 2015, but it seems that it will be the last.
Jewish incubator
None of the politicians succeeded in absorbing popular anger at the current and previous governments, except for the personality of Milley, who beat Trump and Bolsonaro in terms of popularity and eloquence. His understanding of religion appears to have been another factor, clearly instrumental in his success, at least as far as the Jewish community and its financial and media barons are concerned.
Argentina is the largest incubator for Jews in Latin America, and the fifth in the world, with 250,000 people. Its media machine, through the opposition channels La Nacion Mas and A24, attracts millions of followers. She has adopted the method of inflating Milli since his appearance on the political scene and winning a seat in the 2021 Parliament, fulfilling his wild desires to appear as a “know-it-all” and with an eye on hunting the dilapidated presidency. With the events in Gaza, the death of 7 Argentines, and the loss of 6 others, the two channels captured the hearts of millions of additional followers, increased the discourse of Israeli oppression, cheered the image of a Jewish president like Milley, and got rid of the shame of the Kirchnerian government, whose president, Cristina, in 2011, was raised by the people of Gaza with the Venezuelan leader. One of the two channels repeated that clip repeatedly on the evening programs, with the announcers pointing to a picture of Cristina Kirchner and warning: “Cristina and the wretched Chavez support these terrorists in Gaza.”
It is not strange that the rhetoric of demonization of the Palestinians is accepted by many people, especially in Latin America, but what is strangest is the acceptance of what President-elect Milley tells about his relationship with Judaism as a religion, and as a key to unconditional support for the idea of Israel. The man is known to have been born into an unbalanced Catholic family, and he and his only sister grew up in a relationship that over time turned out to be strange. They adopted super-realistic ideas, which he declared publicly during his election campaign, and which became a subject of ridicule to some and fascination to others. Among them is that he believes that Christ will return in the future as a Jewish king from the line of David, and as a savior of the Jewish people, which is known in the Jewish community as the recently popular trend of “Messianism.” He reached the point of saying that God Almighty “spoke” to him once and inspired him several times with the theories of “economic reform for Argentina,” through messages conveyed to him by his famous dog, “Conan,” who has died since 2017, when he came to him in a dream!
His uniqueness among humans
These ideas about Millie became widespread in the last year, increasing his fame. He did not deny them, but rather took them as evidence of his uniqueness among humans, with this characteristic. As for his story with the Jewish religion, it began with him throwing himself into the arms of the Chief Rabbi of the Moroccan Jewish community in Argentina, in June 2021, to read the Torah, and he confided to him that Judaism is the closest religion to his heart and mind, and the rabbi had no choice but to embrace him and bless that step. The rapprochement occurred faster than expected, with progress in reading the Torah. With Milley winning his first political position as a representative in the 2021 Parliament, the young man became more concerned about the decision he made. He made many visits to the strongholds of the Jewish religion in the United States and Jewish communities, and said after his candidacy in the first round of the presidential elections last August: The victory was not thanks to the votes of the Jews in Argentina, but thanks to “the Lord” who blessed his approach to the Jewish religion. As he won one victory after another on his way to the presidency of the country, he expressed to the rabbi his intention to convert to Judaism, but the latter shocked him that his transition from Christianity to Judaism obliged him to devote the Sabbath to worship, which would constitute an obstacle in performing his duty as president. Milley, however, promised the rabbi that he would visit Israel before assuming the presidency on December 10, to thank “the Lord” and support his “brothers” in their plight there, and perhaps to preemptively announce the transfer of the Argentine embassy to Jerusalem.
The reader may be surprised that in 2023 a person like Millie will win the presidency of a country whose people are considered one of the most cultured societies in the world, and whose poverty rate has reached 40%, but this personality won the votes of 56% of them, and torpedoed all thoughts of appreciation for the level of political awareness of Argentines!
