Milei Meets Former Hostage Iair Horn at AMIA Bombing Memorial

Argentine President Javier Milei greeted former Hamas hostage Iair Horn on Friday at the central memorial ceremony marking 32 years since the bombing of the AMIA Jewish community center in Buenos Aires.

Horn, an Argentine-Israeli citizen, was introduced to Milei during the event. Argentina’s presidential office described the interaction as a greeting and identified Horn as a survivor of nearly 500 days in Hamas captivity.

Hamas terrorists abducted Iair and his younger brother, Eitan, from Kibbutz Nir Oz during the October 7 massacre. Iair was released in February 2025 after 498 days, while Eitan remained in Gaza until his release after 738 days.

The ceremony was held one day before the anniversary of the July 18, 1994, suicide bombing, which destroyed the AMIA building, killed 85 people and wounded more than 300. A siren sounded at 9:53 a.m., the time of the explosion, during the event outside the rebuilt community center.

The memorial was held under the slogan, “Today we cannot lose our memory.”

Milei attended alongside Presidential Secretary Karina Milei, other Argentine officials, diplomats, Jewish community leaders, survivors and relatives of the victims.

AMIA President Osvaldo Armoza used the ceremony to sharply criticize the continued lack of judicial progress.

“Over the past year, there has not been a single relevant development in the AMIA case,” Armoza said. “It is as though the case were suspended, dormant or shelved,” he added.

Argentine courts and Jewish community leaders have concluded that senior Iranian officials planned the bombing and that Hezbollah carried it out. However, no one has been convicted of organizing or executing the attack.

Armoza said investigators must also establish who provided the explosives, where the vehicle bomb was assembled and who gave the terrorists assistance inside Argentina.

He called on the Federal Court of Cassation to move forward with a trial in absentia against Iranian suspects who remain outside the country. The procedure, recently added to Argentine law, would allow the defendants to be tried without appearing physically before the court.

Argentina’s judiciary said last year that such a proceeding would advance, but no significant developments have followed.

“Thirty-two years of impunity is an intolerable abyss for any republic that claims to be democratic,” Armoza said.

The AMIA president also urged authorities to strengthen security around the Triple Frontier shared by Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay, as well as along Argentina’s borders with Bolivia and Chile. He called on Brazil to formally designate Hezbollah as a terrorist organization.

Armoza praised Milei’s support for Israel and his government’s position against Iran and Iranian-backed terrorist groups. Milei has drawn Argentina closer to Israel and has publicly condemned Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

The president’s meeting with Horn came as the ceremony again brought together survivors of terrorism and relatives still waiting for justice.

Thirty-two years after the AMIA bombing, the victims continue to be publicly remembered, while the Iranian suspects accused of directing the attack remain beyond the reach of Argentine courts.