KIBBUTZ NIR OZ, Israel — President Javier Milei of Argentina expressed his solidarity with Israel against Hamas terror Thursday, as he toured the ruins of Kibbutz Nir Oz with President Isaac Herzog of Israel.
Milei visited the burned-out homes and bloodstained bedrooms of Nir Oz, one of the hardest-hit communities attacked by Hamas on October 7, where a quarter of the residents were either murdered or kidnapped. Several of the victims were Argentinian.
Milei met survivors from the community, including Ophelia Roitman, 77, who was abducted and later released in a hostage deal. Roitman had been a teacher at a Jewish school in Argentina before immigrating to Israel.
He also paid a special visit to the home of the Bibas family, who are Argentinian-Israeli. They were kidnapped on October 7, including one-year-old Kfir Bibas, the youngest hostage, who recently is thought to have celebrated his first birthday, in captivity.
Home of the Bibas family, Argentinian-Israelis who were kidnapped by Hamas on October 7. Kibbutz Nir Oz, Israel, February 8, 2024 (Joel Pollak / Breitbart News)
Mother Shiri Bibas; Ariel Bibas, 4; and Kfir Bibas, 1. The father, Yarden, is not pictured. (Jewish Breaking News / Telegram)
Irit Lahav, one of the survivors of the attack on the kibbutz, who accompanied Milei during his visit, told Breitbart News that he had cried at several stops along the way, deeply moved by what he had seen.
Later, after walking throughout the community for nearly two hours, Milei addressed journalists.
With explosions resounding in the background from ongoing battles in Gaza nearby, the Argentinian president shared his deep feelings of sorrow at seeing the devastation around him — as well as his commitment to supporting Israel, and the cause of freedom in general.
Milei said that the terror attack represented pure antisemitism similar to the Nazis, and that the free world had to stand against it.
President Herzog thanked Milei for his visit to the community, and for sharing not only in the pain that Israelis still felt, but also for sharing in Israel’s positive vision for peace and prosperity in the region.
President @Isaac_Herzog of Israel thanks President @JMilei of Argentina for his solidarity in the fight against Hamas terror, after they toured the devastation at Kibbutz Nir Oz. pic.twitter.com/K3l1X7Nd10
— Joel Pollak (@joelpollak) February 8, 2024
Breitbart News first visited the kibbutz in November, in one of the first groups of journalists allowed onsite. The kibbutz itself was largely unchanged since then.
But at the outer fence, just a mile from the border with Gaza, the passage of time was clear: the fields, brown in November, were green from the winter rains. And in the city beyond, the buildings of Gaza had largely been reduced to rubble after four months of war.
Gaza, looking toward Khan Yunis, as seen from Kibbutz Nir Oz, one of the communities hardest hit by the Hamas terror attack, November 2023 (left) vs. February 2024 (right). The fields are green from rain; the city beyond has been reduced to rubble by war. pic.twitter.com/01pwyQNOGd
— Joel Pollak (@joelpollak) February 8, 2024
At the end of the visit, Herzog and Milei embraced, having clearly developed a close bond during Milei’s visit to Israel this week.
Milei will conclude his four-day trip to Israel on Friday — his first official state visit abroad as president, and the longest visit to Israel of any leader since October 7, a fact that has deeply impressed the Israeli people.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the recent book, “The Zionist Conspiracy (and how to join it),” now available on Audible. He is also the author of the e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
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