30th anniversary of the terror attack on the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires
Israeli Missions Around The World European-Union News 30th anniversary of the terror attack on the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires

Terror attack on the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Air

  •   30th anniversary of the terror attack on the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires
  • 3/17/2022
    •    
    ​

    At 14.45 on March 17, 1992, a powerful bomb shattered the building of the Israel Embassy in Buenos Aires, taking the lives of 29 people. Hezbollah, calling itself a "party of God", claimed responsibility for the attack.


  •  
     
    ​
    Precisely three decades after the terrorist attack against the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires, the Government of Israel and the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires will commemorate the attack, which took place on March 17, 1992. 
    At 14.45 on March 17, 1992 a powerful bomb shattered the building of the Israel Embassy in Buenos Aires, taking the lives of 29 people, among them three Israeli embassy personnel, six local embassy employees, and scores of innocent Argentineans, including elderly residents of a nearby nursing home, and schoolchildren on a passing bus. 
    In one moment, the embassy and the nearby church were literally wiped off the map. Hezbollah, calling itself a "party of God", claimed responsibility for the attack.
    The Argentine Supreme Court ordered an expert investigation of the attack which was carried out by the head of the national police bomb disposal and explosives unit. The result was conclusive: "The explosion took place outside the building when a car bomb struck the embassy building." Nonetheless, in 1996 the Argentine Supreme Court issued a statement saying it was impossible to determine who was responsible for this act of terror.
    In May 1999, following a formal investigation, the Argentinian Supreme Court accused Hezbollah of the attack and issued an arrest warrant for Imad Mughnieh, commander of Hezbollah military-terrorist wing. An investigation carried out by Israel, whose findings were made public in 2003, showed that the highest levels of the Iranian regime were aware of Hezbollah's intention to carry out the attack and had in fact authorized Hezbollah to carry it out.
    The 2006 report of the findings of the special team which investigated the terrorist attack which destroyed the Jewish Community Center building (AMIA) in Buenos Aires (18 July 1994) states that according to expert testimony, "the modus operandi of the attack was identical to the method employed two years previously in the attack on the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires (an attack that the Argentinean Supreme Court found was the work of Islamic Jihad in its capacity as the military wing of Hezbollah)."
    To date, no one has been brought to justice for these attacks. Israel remains convinced of Iranian responsibility for the bombing of the embassy in 1992 and of the Jewish community center AMIA.
    A marble monument, a replica of the column of the original embassy building, stands today in the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires, in memory of those who died who died on that fateful day in 1992, bearing the verse of the prophet Amos:  "I will raise up its ruins and rebuild it as in the days of old."
    The terror attack on the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires
    MFA
    A delegation from Israel, led by the Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Justice, Gideon Sa'ar and the Deputy Director of the Israeli Foreign Ministry for Latin America and the Caribbean, Jonathan Peled, will arrive in Argentina to participate in the commemoration events. A delegation of survivors and relatives of people who lost their lives in the attack will also participate in the commemoration.

    The main ceremony will be held at 2:50 p.m. on Thursday in the Israeli Embassy Plaza on Arroyo Street, the site of the Israeli embassy prior to the attach. At the ceremony, tribute will be paid to the victims and survivors of the attack, and representatives of the governments of Argentina and Israel will deliver speeches. 
    The members of the Israeli government delegation will be received by the President, Alberto Fernández. The delegation will also meet with the head of the Chamber of Deputies, Sergio Massa, in the National Congress. The presidents of the parties conforming Lower House will also participate in this meeting. As part of their agenda, Israeli government representatives will also hold a meeting with opposition representatives. In addition, the Israeli delegation will meet with representatives of the main organizations of the Argentine Jewish community at the AMIA headquarters. Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Justice Gideon Sa'ar will address the meeting and pay tribute to the victims of the 1994 attack on that institution.

    Campaign "Terrorism Leaves Traces"

    Within the framework of the 30th anniversary of the attack and under the concept "Terrorism Leaves Traces", the Israeli Embassy will promote a remembrance campaign throughout the country. It will consist of an audiovisual spot, graphic pieces and an Instagram filter that can be used by anyone who wishes to reflect the importance of this day on their social networks. Through this campaign, produced by Casa Kiev, people are invited to reflect on the mark left by this attack on the entire community, strengthening the concepts of memory and condemnation of terrorism.
    In commemoration
     
    A memorial logo commemorating the embassy attack was launched this year. The logo incorporates images both of what was destroyed, and what survived; the embassy building that was completely destroyed in the attack and a large seven-branched candelabrum that was in the embassy lobby and survived the explosion, as well as 29 years in memory of the 29 killed.