Big political headache for Pope in Argentina

Motivated by the temporary support of citizens at the polls, Javier Milei is already anticipating what his first steps will be in the event of reaching the Casa Rosada. And he is going for everything and against everyone: emulating former US president Donald Trump, he proposes the transfer of the Argentine embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and generates an international diplomatic dilemma that puts Jorge Bergoglio at the centre of the discussion on the status quo of the "holy city" of three religions.

Who is behind Milei's dream of being the first Jewish president of Argentina?

The candidate of La Libertad Avanza, who aims to become the country's first Jewish president -as Letra P told us-, bases the move of the diplomatic headquarters on a literal interpretation of the Bible fed by the World Zionist Organisation. "When the One had the tablets of the Law broken to Moshe (Hebrew translation of Moses as found in the Torah), the first word he pronounced was Jerusalem, which was the capital chosen by King David," said the libertarian.

This international policy move would imply, in addition to the change of embassy city, the recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Israel, as the United States first did in December 2017 under the Trump administration, in a diplomatic decision never reversed by his successor, Joe Biden.

Other countries adopted similar positions, but without relocating diplomatic representations. They recognise both West Jerusalem as Israel's capital and Palestinian aspirations for East Jerusalem and condition them, the Palestinian authority and the Israeli government, on a "final" peace agreement in this region that the three Abrahamic faiths call the Holy Land.

Capital of faith for three religions

The step Milei hinted at would also mean going against UN provisions to preserve the city as the "capital of faith" for Christianity, Judaism and Islam, in order to protect the holy sites of the three major monotheistic faiths: the Holy Sepulchre, the Wailing Wall and the Al Aqsa Mosque, among other prayer sites that are not free of inter-religious conflict.

Even without responding to Milei, Bergoglio has made repeated pronouncements in this regard and, in a timely manner, asked Trump to respect the historical and legal status of Jerusalem as a "unique city; sacred" for Jews, Christians and Muslims. "Jerusalem has a universal value, already contained in the meaning of its name: 'City of Peace'," the Argentine pope recalled and asked to respect it as such above "any ideology, any side".

Milei, Bergoglio and the Jewish Community

The issue of Jerusalem is not the only one that puts Francis and Milei, one of the few Argentine politicians who has openly criticised Bergoglio since he took up residence in the Vatican in 2013, on opposite sides. Among other points, the libertarian agrees with Trump that climate change is "a lie", in contrast to what Bergoglio preaches in his green encyclical Laudato si' on caring for the planet.

Until today, Milei's relationship with the Argentine Jewish community has been highly controversial. In the midst of the pandemic, Milei was repudiated by the Delegation of Argentinean Israelite Associations (DAIA) for his banal comparison of the health passport with the Star of David that Jews were forced to wear during the Holocaust. More recently, for voting against 18 July being declared a National Day of Mourning for the anniversary of the terrorist attack on the AMIA, and encouraging his bloc in the Chamber of Deputies to do the same. He then tried to change it, but was denied by the Presidency of the Lower House.

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Cathcon: As Milei was quoted as saying, "Bergoglio is an ignorant beast who proposes a murderous system like communism", sparks could fly!