At the Museum of Tolerance, President Javier Milei was honored today with the Jewish Nobel Prize, awarded by the renowned Genesis Prize Foundation. This is the first time this recognition has been given to a sitting head of state.
Among the personalities who have previously received this award are Michael Bloomberg, Barbra Streisand, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Steven Spielberg, and Natalie Portman.
Milei attended the ceremony accompanied by Karina Milei, Secretary General of the Presidency, Foreign Minister Gerardo Werthein, and the Argentine ambassador to Israel, Axel Wahnish.
"I've been told this is the first time this award has been given to a non-Jew," the president said during the speech in which he expressed his gratitude for the distinction. "Allow me to quote (Jorge Luis) Borges: "If we belong to Western civilization, then all of us, despite the many adventures of blood, are Greeks and Jews. I'm not Jewish, but that doesn't prevent me from feeling the history of the Jewish people as my own." And that is certainly the case..." he concluded.
The Genesis Prize Foundation awards the recipient one million dollars, a sum that Milei will allocate to promote a campaign against terrorism and antisemitism in Latin America.
As part of this visit to Israel, Milei participated in a meeting with relatives of people kidnapped by the terrorist group Hamas. On Tuesday, he also held a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with the intention of advancing the strengthening of diplomatic ties between Argentina and Israel.
The Argentine president had announced that this Thursday he will sign a memorandum of understanding with Netanyahu, which will formalize strategic agreements between both countries. At that same event, he will also confirm the opening of a new direct air route between Buenos Aires and Tel Aviv.
