A memorial service was held virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and Israel’s embassy in Argentina produced a video in which the presidents and foreign ministers of Argentina and Israel, the Israeli ambassador to Argentina, and many others said the Spanish word “presente” — figuratively meaning “remember.”
Foreign Minister Ashkenazi marked the anniversary in a speech, saying, “We remember with pain the 29 victims of the attack and the dozens of injured, victims of a criminal act of terrorism.”
“We send our condolences to the families of those killed and our support to the injured,” he continued. “My heart and the hearts of the people of Israel are with the families of the victims, including the Israeli diplomats, their spouses, the dedicated Argentinian workers at the embassy, the passers-by who were caught up in the attack, and with the entire people of Argentina who also fell victim to such a severe terrorist attack.”
“Twenty-nine years have passed, and to this day none of those responsible for the criminal act have been brought to justice,” Ashkenazi noted. “This despite the fact that it is known that Iran was behind not only this attack but also the attack on the AMIA Jewish center that took place two years later, in 1994, in which 85 people were killed and hundreds were injured.”
“The State of Israel will continue to stand with the families of the fallen and demand that Argentina brings those responsible for the attack to justice,” he said.
Dan Poraz, a policy advisor to Israel’s Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi, outlined the attack in a Twitter thread, mourning the 29 victims — including three Israeli diplomats who left nine children behind — and noting the findings that Iran was behind the attack.
A joint Israeli-US-Argentine investigation, Poraz wrote, found that the attacks were authorized by Iran’s current “supreme leader” Ali Khamenei and that Hezbollah was ordered to carry out the atrocity by Iran’s minister of intelligence. Also collaborating in the attack were Iran’s ambassador and cultural attaché to Argentina.
“Since the ‘79 Islamic Revolution, the Iranian regime sees terror as a legitimate instrument to promote its political interests. #Iran has attempted, and in many cases succeeded, to carry out terror attacks, in all 5 continents,” Poraz said.
The American Jewish Committee tweeted, “We mourn the 29 people murdered and remember the heroism of those who saved lives. AJC awarded one of the heroes, U.S. Marine Corps Lt. B.G. Willison, our Moral Courage Award in 2017.”
The IDF tweeted, “Today, we remember the victims of the terror attack carried out by Hezbollah at the Israeli Embassy in Argentina 29 years ago.”
“Hezbollah’s terror is not only a threat to Israel but to the entire world,” it added.
B’nai Brith International commented, “The perpetrators must be brought to justice!”
“May those lost forever be a blessing,” they added.
#OTD in 1992, Iran-backed terrorists bombed the Israeli Embassy in #BuenosAires, #Argentina, murdering 29 people and injuring 242 others in a brutal attack. The perpetrators must be brought to justice!
May those lost forever be a blessing. pic.twitter.com/bERW5Y04lc
— B’nai B’rith Int’l (@BnaiBrith) March 17, 2021
“And let’s not forget who is behind Hezbollah and the murder & destruction that they cause,” he added, referring to Iran.
Remembrances came in from Argentina as well, with Álvaro González — a Buenos Aires deputy for the political coalition “Juntos por el Cambio” — tweeting in Spanish, “29 years after the attack on the Israeli embassy, we remember the victims and we continue to demand justice.”