Argentine Foreign Minister Gerardo Werthein prayed this Sunday at the Western Wall or “Kotel” (known in the gentile world as the Wailing Wall) in Jerusalem for “peace for the Jewish people and the State of Israel and the end of hatred.”
“Coming here is emotional and unique, the feeling is indescribable. I feel protected and I pray for peace for the Jewish people and the State of Israel and for an end to hatred,” Werthein said, in statements reported by Israeli authorities.
The minister, who began a trip to the region on Saturday that will also take him to the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, went to the Wailing Wall accompanied by the Argentine ambassador to Israel, Shimon Wahnis, head rabbi of the president of Argentina, Javier Milei.
During his visit, Werthein was wearing the phylactery, the small leather box where passages from the Torah are kept, and met with the rabbi of Israel's holy sites, Shmuel Rabinovitch.
A vestige of the Temple of Jerusalem, the Wailing Wall is the most sacred place of prayer in Judaism due to its proximity to the Kosesh Hakodashim (sancta sanctorum) of the vanished Hebrew sanctuary. It is one of the four retaining walls around Mount Moriah, erected to expand the esplanade on which the First and Second Temples of Jerusalem were built.
Weirthein also held a meeting with Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar in Jerusalem, where they discussed, among other things, how to boost economic relations between the two countries.
“Over the past year, Argentina has repeatedly demonstrated that it knows right from wrong and has supported Israel on the international stage. Argentina, under the leadership of President Javier Milei, is one of Israel’s greatest friends in the world,” Saar wrote on his official X account.
The trip was announced on Friday by the Argentine Foreign Ministry, which explained that the diplomatic mission “is part of the Argentine government's strategy to expand its presence in international markets, strengthen ties with strategic countries and attract investments that boost the country's economic development.”
The foreign minister will remain in Israel until Monday "to hold high-level meetings with the country's top authorities and representatives of the private sector."
The talks will address issues of cooperation in innovation, security, agricultural technology, food exports and defence, as well as “strengthening the strategic link between the two countries.”
Werthein will also meet with relatives of Argentine hostages kidnapped by the Palestinian Islamic terrorist group Hamas during the attack on Israel on October 7, 2023 and, according to a statement from the Foreign Ministry, will reaffirm "the commitment of the Argentine Government to their immediate and unconditional release."
His arrival in the country coincided with the release of Yarden Bibas, an Israeli of Argentine family who was one of three men released by Hamas as part of the ceasefire agreement and exchange of hostages for imprisoned Palestinian terrorists that it has maintained with Israel since mid-January.
Agencies contributed to this Aurora article