Will the new president of Argentina announce his conversion to Judaism from Tel Aviv? | Opinions

The personality of the newly elected President of Argentina, Javier Milley, was associated with features that made him a loud phenomenon, not only on the political level, but even on the religious level. The young man, in his fifties, caused a lot of controversy because of his religious ideas, which did not find a space in Christianity to satisfy his confusion, and he threw himself into the arms of the “Messianic Judaism” trend.

Milley hinted this week – from the holy tomb of the Lubavitch rabbi in New York – that a major decision about his faith would be announced soon.

This is what some understood to mean that he will officially convert to Judaism, and it will most likely be from Tel Aviv, his third stop on his first tour outside the country, after he won the presidential elections a few days ago over his opponent, the current Economy Minister, Sergio Massa, by 12 points.

The visit to the grave of Rabbi Lubavitch – who is considered by many Jews to be the author of divine miracles – comes within the framework of a tour, part of which Milley described as spiritual, and the rest as diplomatic and economic, in Washington, then Tel Aviv, and perhaps Gaza, if circumstances permit, as he stated last week to Argentine websites.

President-elect Milley, in fact, has a story with the sacred tomb of Rabbi Lubavitch, which most Jews see as new conclusive evidence of the rabbi’s miracles. The current visit is considered the second of its kind this year, after the first last July, when Milley went to beg for the rabbi’s blessings in winning the primary elections for the presidency of Argentina (a round that precedes the two official rounds), and said: He confided to him a special promise, which he will carry out in If his wish comes true, he will win in the second final round.

Milley stated that this second visit was to thank the Lord and the rabbi who gave him “knowledge and a tongue that does not know how to stutter,” and that he committed to returning before assuming the position, to inform him of the fulfillment of the pledge that he had taken upon himself soon.

The Israeli newspaper “Kfar Jabal” published that President-elect Milley only needs one simple stage to announce his conversion to Judaism, and even the stage of circumcision took place earlier.

His relationship with his parents

It should be noted that the remarkable attention that Milley pays to the Jewish religion does not necessarily mean a desire for support from the Jewish community in Argentina (about 250 thousand people), but it perhaps stems from his “outside the group” way of thinking in many areas, whether economic or political. Or even family.

For example, a man declares openly that he has lost his parents for many years, and considers them dead. Because of his harsh childhood, in a society that still respects the status of fathers. In addition, he did not announce his romantic relationship with any woman, except before the final round of the elections, when one of the channels presented him with a comedian and dancer, on the basis that she was his lover, and that she would be the first lady if he won the elections, but her personality almost disappeared after his victory.

Another thing that reflects the great closeness between President-elect Milley and the symbols of the Jewish religion on the American continent is his selection of Gerardo Werton for the position of Argentine ambassador to Washington, and he is one of the four people accompanying Milley on his current tour.

Werton – in addition to belonging to one of the most financially influential families in Argentina – and his brother Adrian, is the president of the Jewish Council of Latin America, which is closely linked to the Jewish Council of the United States, which is considered one of the most powerful Jewish organizations in the world.

This means, according to Argentine analysts, that the Jewish community on the American continent, with its financial influence, will be at the side of President-elect Milley in the future, in good and bad times.

The strange thing is that the news of Milley’s visit to Israel and the United States dominated the coverage of the Argentine media, but the focus on the first leg of the visit, in New York – which lasted a few hours – dominated the rest of the stops, and only talk was made of the second leg in Washington. , without mentioning the third station related to Israel.

This made some public opinion wonder about the possibility of canceling or postponing Milley’s visit, as evidenced by the neglect to talk about it in the same media that cheered her. But a call from the Israeli ambassador to Argentina to the A24 channel dispelled those doubts, and assured the broadcaster, who in turn seemed thirsty for clarification, that Israel welcomes Milley, just as it welcomed all of the allies who visited it, even if the circumstances were not favorable at the present time, and that Her government expressed its happiness at Milley’s victory, and thanked him for his confidence in considering her the strongest future partner in his government.

The funny thing is that the ambassador mentioned several names of world leaders who recently visited Israel to support it in its ordeal, and he did not mention the Spanish Prime Minister or his Belgian counterpart, who disturbed Israel with their positions on the repercussions of the recent Gaza events.

The first Jewish president

It is likely, then, that President Milley will be a guest in Israel these days, and that he will herald the Israeli government’s fulfillment of his electoral promise with the decision to move the Argentine embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, immediately after he officially assumes the presidency, and perhaps he will also announce his conversion to Judaism from there, becoming the first Jewish Argentine president. Thus, he revealed the promise he pledged to fulfill to Rabbi Lubavitch in front of his grave in New York.

Although President-elect Milley’s visit to the United States and then to Israel comes at a time when the economic issue of Argentina is considered the most important issue determining the future of Argentines – in light of an unprecedented financial and social crisis – the religious issue of Milley’s personality has captured the attention of the media, which has taken It is up to her to inflate Milley’s image as a presidential candidate, and now she continues to numb public opinion by directing its attention towards topics such as “miracles” and the revival of the “Messianic” trend in the Jewish religion.

What is strange is that the same media is covering the dates of the second leg of Milley’s visit in Washington with representatives of the International Monetary Fund and the rest of the international financial institutions, with complete optimism.

The fact is that Milley took with him his next Minister of Economy, Luis Caputo, who everyone knows was the head of the Central Bank and the Minister of Finance who implicated Argentina in the largest loan from the International Monetary Fund, worth 57 million dollars, during the era of the government of former President Macri!

A little-known digital media site asked after the news broke: “If Milley is the one who proudly calls himself ‘crazy,’ could it be that all of his voters are crazy?”