The eccentric Javier Milei, 53, a former lawmaker and economist, is the President-Elect of Argentina. The self-described ‘Libertarian,’ who is also known for his social conservative views, will be sworn in on Sunday December 10. 

Milei won a landslide victory during a runoff election in November by defeating his opponent, Sergio Massa of the Justicialist Party, with 55.7 to 44.3 percent of the vote. Milei’s victory was nothing short of an indictment of Argentina’s long-standing Perónist ideology, which centers on ‘Social Justice’ and patronage politics favoring the public sector and other special interest groups such as labor unions.

Massa is a protégé of departing Vice President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner who previously served as President from 2007-2015; and before that as First Lady during the administration of her late-husband, Néstor Kirchner (1950-2010). He governed from 2003-2007.

Milei’s political movement is known as La Libertad Avanza or Liberty Advances.

Milei, who campaigned on the need to overhaul the country’s battered economy, has also staked out a clear foreign policy vision: to strengthen Buenos Aires’ relationships with Washington and Jerusalem. One of his campaign promises was even to move the country’s Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

The President-Elect is also a man of faith who studies the Torah weekly with Rabbi Shimon Axel Wahnish who spearheads an Orthodox Jewish congregation in Buenos Aires. Milei is not Jewish, but has previously expressed an interest in converting.

“There is no doubt that he has a very strong connection to Judaism. He has been studying Torah for quite some time; he apparently also felt the need to pay tribute to the ‘Lubavitch Rebbe’ after winning the elections,” explains Adriana Camisar, a political analyst and attorney based in Salta, Argentina. Camisar has been B’nai B’rith International’s Special Advisor on Latin American and U.N. Affairs since 2008.

By the Lubavitch Rebbe, Camisar is referring to Menachem Mendel Schneerson (1902-1994), who spearheaded the Chabad-Lubavitch hasidic dynasty headquartered in Brooklyn, New York. 

He was the seventh leader of the group – and perhaps its final – as the Rabbi never appointed a successor nor has anyone succeeded him in the three decades since his passing. Schneerson’s legacy centers primarily on the combination of his organizational skills – he established a highly centralized organization in New York – from where his vision focusing on ‘returning’ world Jewry to the practice of Orthodox Judaism continues to be executed. From the 1950s and onwards, Schneerson dispatched emissaries around the world to bring Jews closer to their faith. While the Chabad-Lubavitch ideology can be loosely characterized as ‘missionary work’ targeting Jews, the movement itself describes it as ‘outreach.’ 

Milei’s partner for Torah study is Wahnish, who is, of course, from the Chabad-Lubavitch movement himself.

Commenting on Milei’s decision to pay tribute to Schneerson’s legacy by visiting his gravesite in New York immediately after his victory, Camisar believes that his interest in Judaism is sincere, adding that he’s a spiritual person. “He apparently felt that he needed to pay this tribute to the Lubavitch Rebbe after winning the elections.” She doesn’t believe that Milei’s visit to the gravesite was a political stunt of sorts. 

While in the United States, the President-Elect and his team visited Washington to present their economic reform plan. “It was apparently well-received,” Camisar says, adding that U.S Ambassador to Argentina Mark Stanley had accompanied them. “This is unusual as Milei has not yet even assumed office. We can expect a very strong bilateral relationship with Milei as president.”

Milei has also campaigned on pegging the Argentine Peso to the U.S. Dollar. 

“But getting support from Argentina’s congress and implementing his so-called dollarization plan could be rife with challenges. Other countries that have dollarized are far smaller, like El Salvador. With Argentina broke, economists say the country doesn’t have the funds to carry out as ambitious a proposal as dollarization. In recent years, the country has lost access to global debt markets,” The Wall Street Journal reported on November 20.

During the election, the self-styled Libertarian drew some traction in the United States after granting the American conservative commentator Tucker Carlson a wide-ranging interview on X (formerly Twitter) where he decried socialism and his country’s economic malaise. The interview has generated a staggering 421 million views. While Milei has also been criticized by a large segment of America’s traditional news media, including by The Washington Post, the relationship with U.S. President Joe Biden is expected to be close and friendly.

The interview has been edited for length and clarity.

What kind of executive powers does the President have? Or is he dependent on the legislature to pass his agenda? If so, who are his political allies and detractors?

 In Argentina, there is only a limited number of measures that can be taken by an executive order, which is why Milei’s cabinet will need to negotiate with the opposition. He also needs to form alliances to pass the legislation required for the comprehensive economic reforms that he has campaigned on.

The political map is being drawn up as we speak. There are several moving parts, which is why it is still early to talk about specific numbers among his potential allies versus those of his detractors. 

Within the Justicialist Party, which is dominated by Fernandez de Kirchner, there are elements who strongly oppose Milei’s agenda in Congress. But a second block, which is comprised of some ‘moderate’ Peronists who may be inclined to support some of his proposals. The third block, also known as ‘Juntos por el Cambio,’ which supported Patricia Bullrich of the center-right/right PRO party as its presidential candidate, is now deeply divided; some of them have decided to support Milei while others have joined the opposition. Bullrich who supported Milei will become his Minister of Security. She held the same position during the center-right administration of President Mauricio Macri (2015-2019). 

Milei will not only have to negotiate with the National Congress of Argentina, but also with the country’s various unions who remain extremely powerful.

Milei famously pledged to visit Israel for his first trip abroad. What’s next for his foreign policy?

No visit has yet been scheduled but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has indeed invited him. While a visit is expected to take place soon, Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen has announced that he will attend Milei’s inauguration, along with Argentine family members of the hostages held by Hamas in Gaza. It is expected that the next president will support Israel’s war against Hamas, including that he will demand their unconditional release. The departing government of Alberto Fernandez has not fully done so.

I am also optimistic that Milei will move the Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.