Report: Argentina halts Jerusalem embassy move over Falklands drilling dispute
Tensions between President Milei and Netanyahu reportedly flare due to Israeli-owned firm’s plan for offshore oil project near disputed islands, raising concerns in Buenos Aires
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Argentina has halted its plans to relocate its embassy to Jerusalem, a report said Saturday, due to “tension” between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Argentine President Javier Milei in recent weeks.
According to Channel 12 news, tensions arose due to the Israeli-owned Navitas Petroleum company’s plans to carry out offshore drilling in the Falkland Islands, expected to begin in 2028.
The Falkland Islands are a British overseas territory, although Argentina claims that it, not the United Kingdom, has sovereignty over the islands, which it refers to as Islas Malvinas.
In December, Argentina criticized Navitas and UK firm Rockhopper for announcing what it said was an “illegitimate” oil drilling project worth roughly $2.1 billion off the coast of the Falkland Islands, as it was not approved by Argentina and therefore was a “unilateral decision” made by the UK government.
A 1976 United Nations resolution established that neither Argentina nor the UK can carry out unilateral decisions over the territory as long as negotiations over the sovereignty of the Falklands continue.
Rockhopper has been banned from operating in Argentina since 2013 after the Argentine government criminalized its activities, and Navitas was also banned in 2022 for carrying out oil drilling operations without authorization.
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar has attempted to communicate to Argentina that the Israeli government was not involved in, and had no control over, Navitas’s operations, given that it is a public company.
This appears to have had little effect, as Channel 12 cited anonymous sources close to Milei as saying that not only has the disagreement effectively halted the relocation of the embassy, but risks harming relations between Buenos Aires and Jerusalem, which had grown close following Milei’s election in 2023.
The Foreign Ministry told the network, in response to its request for comment, that Argentina under Milei “is one of Israel’s best and closest friends, and there is ongoing and close contact between the leadership of Israel and Argentina.”
Noting Sa’ar’s previous comments on the issue, the Foreign Ministry added that the matter “will continue to be discussed between parties.”
Milei, an adamantly pro-Israel Judeophile, first announced his intention to move the embassy during his first state visit to Israel in February 2024,
He reiterated that intention during another state visit in June 2025, speaking before the Knesset, and again in November, when Milei told Sa’ar following a meeting between them in Buenos Aires that he planned to open the new embassy in the spring.
Argentina’s move would make it the eighth country to relocate its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, after Fiji, the United States, Guatemala, Honduras, Kosovo, Papua New Guinea and Paraguay.
The Times of Israel Community.