MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Milei rounds up a three-day tour of Israel

“Nazism did what it did because the free world remained indifferent,” Milei argued

Argentine President Javier Milei rounded up his tour of Israel Thursday with a visit to the Old City in Jerusalem, where he stopped by the Church of the Holy Sepulcher and then met with relatives of people kidnapped during Hamas' Oct. raids before heading for Rome to meet with Pope Francis.

Milei, who was joined by his Israeli colleague Isaac Herzog, insisted that the world could not afford to “repeat the same mistake” of letting a terrorist organization carry out such an atrocious attack. The South American leader also went to Kibbutz Nir Oz, a site 1.8 kilometers from Gaza and one of the hardest hit by the Palestinian Islamist movement.

“Truly this cannot go unpunished. We have to take very seriously what the terrorists are doing and fight it. One cannot be indifferent because this is a new version of Nazism and this cannot be allowed,” Milei told a group of survivors, many of whom were Argentine-Israelis. “Nazism did what it did because the free world remained indifferent,” Milei argued.

He then visited with his sister and Presidential Secretary Karina the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, ahead of his trip to Rome for meetings with Pope Francis and Italian Prime Minister Georgia Meloni.

Also Thursday, Milei sang, danced, and was carried on a platform in front of the Wailing Wall by a group of Jewish parishioners who sang along. Video footage of these celebrations went viral.

On Sunday, Milei will attend the canonization of María Antonia de Paz y Figueroa, better known as “Mama Antula,” Argentina's first female saint.