(Communicated by the MFA Spokesperson)
The agreement between Argentina and Iran is received in Isral with
astonishment and provoked deep disappointment. The Argentinian ambassador in
Israel will be summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Jerusalem to
provide explanations for this, his government's latest move. Israel's Ambassador
in Buenos Aires, Ms. Dorit Shavit, will request a meeting with the Argentinian
Foreign Minister, Hector Timerman, in order to clarify the motivations for this
move.
As soon as contacts between Argentina and Iran had begun, we have asked to be
updated on the discussions, but we received no response from the Argentinean
authorities.
Israel is clearly and understandably concerned by the matter. The 1994
bombing targeted the AMIA Jewish Community Center, and caused 85 dead and
hundreds of wounded, Jews and non-Jews alike. Though the attack took place on
Argentinean soil and was aimed at Argentinean citizens, the findings of the
ensuing investigation by Argentinean authorities has brought up a clear
resemblance with the bombing of the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires, which
occurred two years earlier. The proven relation between the two attacks grants
us the natural right to follow the investigations and to expect the perpetrators
and their sponsors to be brought to justice, particularly in times when to
suffer from the Iranian terror plague around the world.
The Argentinean authorities have pointed at Iran as the sponsor of the
attack, and took the necessary steps with Interpol in accordance with their
findings.
Now, this recent agreement raises severe questions: it establishes a
committee whose recommendations are non-mandatory, and it provides the country
which all the evidence points at, namely Iran, with the capacity to delay
indefinitely the committee's works. It is doubtful whether this is how justice
will be rendered.