Ganz Seeks Latin American Support Against Sanctions
Yesha Council head Yisrael Ganz met Argentina's President Javier Milei while touring Latin America to press for backing against European sanctions on Israeli residents.
Updated on Nov. 8, 2026 in International Relations
Yisrael Ganz, head of the Yesha Council and the Binyamin Regional Council, toured Argentina, Guatemala and Mexico seeking support against European sanctions targeting Israeli residents of Judea and Samaria. He held an hour-long discussion with Argentine President Javier Milei at Casa Rosada.
Why it matters
The Yesha Council represents more than 500,000 Israeli residents in the region, and the delegation bypassed traditional European diplomatic channels in favor of sympathetic foreign governments and regional Jewish leaders. The outreach reflects an effort to build diplomatic backing outside Europe for a regional dispute over sanctions.
The delegation met four members of the Argentine Congress and held a third round of talks with Milei, with the source reporting no formal policy commitments. The European sanctions being contested are not detailed in the extraction, and no response from Argentine officials beyond the shared meeting photos is recorded.
The players
Yisrael Ganz
Ganz heads both the Yesha Council and the Binyamin Regional Council, bodies that represent Israeli communities in Judea and Samaria.
Javier Milei
Milei is the President of Argentina, a libertarian economist who took office in December 2023.
The details
Ganz traveled with Eliana Passentin, head of Binyamin's foreign desk, and was facilitated by Rabbi Richard Kaufman in meeting Milei. Ganz also visited the rebuilt AMIA Jewish community center in Buenos Aires and announced plans for a memorial in Binyamin to the 85 victims of the 1994 bombing; organizers are considering incorporating two stone fragments from the original building.
Timeline
1939: British mandate policy restricted Jewish immigration to pre-state Israel.
1994: Bombing of the AMIA Jewish community center in Buenos Aires killed 85 people.
Political Context
The tour extends the long-running Jewish community ties in Argentina rooted in the 1994 AMIA bombing, which remains a reference point in Argentine-Jewish relations. The delegation's focus on sympathetic governments outside Europe reflects a strategy of seeking diplomatic counterweights to European sanctions.
For readers, the immediate impact is limited to the diplomatic positioning described, since the source reports no new sanctions, visa rules or policy changes. Any practical effect would depend on whether the governments visited adopt formal positions in the months ahead.
The takeaway
Diplomatic campaigns over sanctions increasingly look beyond the traditional European capitals, and Latin American governments are becoming part of that contest. Readers tracking the issue should watch for any formal statements from the governments visited.
Further reading
For more on the diplomatic dynamics at play, see our coverage of International Relations.
Source note: This article includes information reported by The Jerusalem Post.
