MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Israel honors Nisman on bombing anniversary; crowd calls Argentine officials 'scoundrels'

Israel's Agriculture and Rural development minister Yair Shamir praised Nisman saying he ended “paying with his life the attempt to discover the truth”.

Israel honored the figure of Argentine former special prosecutor Alberto Nisman during the Thursday ceremony in Buenos Aires to mark the 23rd anniversary of the 1992 attack on the Israel Embassy that claimed the life of 22 people and injured dozens.

 The ceremony had as main speaker Israel's Agriculture and Rural development minister Yair Shamir who praised Nisman saying he ended “paying with his life the attempt to discover the truth”.

Shamir said that following the 1992 and 1994 (AMIA) terrorist attacks “most unfortunately another tragedy happened and that was the death of prosecutor Alberto Nisman, blessed be his memory”.

Argentine government representatives --and from the opposition-- attended the ceremony, including cabinet chief Anibal Fernandez, Justice Minister Julio Alak and Deputy foreign minister Eduardo Zuaín. President Cristina Fernandez apparently had to travel to Santa Cruz to follow her political agenda.

But the arrival of the government delegation particularly Fernandez was received by boos and strong words, particularly 'scoundrel', the same term he had used to describe Nisman: ”he was a scoundrel: he used government money for the AMIA investigation on 'birds' (women) and handouts to friends”.

The event started at 14.45, the exact time when the car bomb exploded in 1992, killing 29 and wounding 242, including diplomats, children, clergy from a nearby church and bystanders. The official ceremony by the Embassy was to be held on Tuesday, but it was postponed due to general elections in Israel.

“The terrorists of the bombings, (embassy and AMIA) were financed by Iran with blind hate. Both atrocities have to be investigated without rest to take their perpetrators to justice,” insisted Shamir who added that Iran “continues to sow fear worldwide; Israel and Argentina share the same pain caused by terrorism”.

The ceremony took place at a small stage mounted in central Buenos Aires in the corner where once stood the Israeli embassy and is now an open space.

In a brief statement Anibal Fernandez recalled that Cristina Fernandez had never attended an anniversary ceremony for the 17 March 1992 attack, as president, and anticipated that in two weeks time Congress would pass the indemnity bill for AMIA victims and relatives.

President Cristina Fernández repeated on twitter that her government will declassify all the available information on the attack against the Israeli embassy that took place in 1992.
“As soon as the Court requests so, it will be proceeded the same way that in the AMIA case,” Cristina Fernandez confirmed in her official Twitter account.