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30 Years Later, Justice for Jews and AMIA Bombing Victims in Argentina Remains Elusive
People hold images of the victims of the 1994 bombing attack on the Argentine Israeli Mutual Association (AMIA) community centre, marking the 25th anniversary of the atrocity in Buenos Aires. Photo: Reuters/Agustin Marcarian.
When I arrived in Buenos Aires earlier this month to observe the 30th anniversary of the bombing of the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association (AMIA) building, it was a ritual that had become all too familiar.
On July 18, 1994, an explosives-laden van driven by a Hezbollah terrorist linked to the Iranian regime plowed into the AMIA building, killing 85 people and wounding more than 300. It was a severe blow to the institutional heart of the largest Jewish community in Latin America, and remains the worst antisemitic attack outside of Israel since the Holocaust.
I always make observing the anniversary a high priority as both a Latina woman and a Jewish professional. At the time, I was head of political affairs for the Mexican Jewish community, and I remember that tragic date vividly, as we mobilized locally to denounce this heinous act.
Even though it happened thousands of miles away, the bombing was personal, and the pursuit of justice has also become a relentless commitment for the past three decades.
Before 1994, Latin American Jews often viewed violence against Jews and Jewish institutions as something that happened elsewhere. It took AMIA to realize we could be targets anywhere, anytime. AMIA may have been 30 years ago, but it matters to me more than ever.
Make no mistake, though. The wait for justice remains an agonizing source of frustration for me and all the public officials, diplomats, and Jewish leaders who I joined this year for the memorial ceremony in Buenos Aires.
In April, Argentina’s top criminal court ruled that Iran was a terrorist state and a mastermind of the bombing, which was carried out by members of its terror proxy, Hezbollah. Yet, international arrest warrants — and Interpol red alerts — for the senior Iranian officials and Lebanese nationals suspected of playing a role in the bombing have led nowhere.
Argentina was once a nation that wavered about pursuing the AMIA murderers. Attempts at identifying and finding the perpetrators were stymied by multiple episodes of corruption, incompetence, neglect, and outright malfeasance.
It was as if the sting from the tears of the 200,000 Argentines who, shortly after the attack, filled a downtown Buenos Aires plaza to sing the Argentine and Israeli national anthems and chant the mourner’s Kaddish, meant nothing.
Prior Argentinian governments operated in the hope that time would let AMIA fade into distant memory. Of course, the Jewish community in Argentina and many other people who believe in truth, memory, and justice in that country and elsewhere were not going to let that happen. They understood that the only way of preventing future instances of violence was to overcome impunity and ensure that those responsible would be held to account for their savage actions.
AMIA has been at the top of my mind since I started working at American Jewish Committee (AJC) in 2003. Together with former AJC CEO David Harris and our AMIA partners, I spent many years trying to persuade Argentina to unequivocally identify Iran as the culprit, and designate Hezbollah as a terrorist organization.
That finally happened thanks to the efforts of Special Prosecutor Alberto Nisman, who paid with his life for pointing the finger at Iran and Hezbollah.
In 2019, an Argentine judge and high-ranking officials were among those sentenced to prison terms for concealing and destroying evidence and facilitating the attack.
Those events presaged a sea change in how Argentina viewed its obligations to the Jewish community. In 2020, it adopted the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance Working Definition of Antisemitism, and last year became the first Latin American nation to appoint an antisemitism envoy.
Argentine Jews should also be buoyed by their president, Javier Milei, who, since he took office in December, has been an enthusiastic supporter of Israel and Jewish interests.
Milei has blamed Iran’s “fanatical government” for the bombing, and vowed to pursue justice for AMIA. He also said he would propose legislation that would allow the AMIA suspects to be tried in absentia.
I want to feel encouraged by these developments, especially after decades of feeling hopeless. But it isn’t easy. As I stood outside AMIA on July 18, alongside AJC CEO Ted Deutch, I was jolted by the plaintive wail of a memorial siren at 9:53 a.m., the minute the bomb went off in 1994. Ten thousand people clamored for justice while raising the photos of the 85 victims.
We heard the harrowing memories, as vivid as ever, of some of the families of the victims. It was truly one of the most emotional experiences of my life, particularly at a time when the Jewish people and Israel are facing dire existential challenges.
I’ve heard that memorial siren before. But you’re still never ready when it goes off. Its mournful sound commands us to sear that awful day into our collective memory. It is also an urgent call for justice. The AMIA victims and their families have been in search of it for 30 years.
For them, for us all, let’s hope they find it soon.
Dina Siegel Vann is Director of the AJC Arthur and Rochelle Belfer Institute for Latino and Latin American Affairs.
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Iranian nuclear program degraded by up to two years, Pentagon says
A satellite image of Iran’s Fordow nuclear facility. Photo: File.
The Pentagon said on Wednesday that US strikes 10 days ago had degraded Iran’s nuclear program by up to two years, suggesting the U.S. military operation likely achieved its goals despite a far more cautious initial assessment that leaked to the public.
Sean Parnell, a Pentagon spokesman, offered the figure at a briefing to reporters, adding that the official estimate was “probably closer to two years.” Parnell did not provide evidence to back up his assessment.
“We have degraded their program by one to two years, at least intel assessments inside the Department [of Defense] assess that,” Parnell told a news briefing.
U.S. military bombers carried out strikes against three Iranian nuclear facilities on June 22 using more than a dozen 30,000-pound bunker-buster bombs and more than two dozen Tomahawk land attack cruise missiles.
The evolving U.S. intelligence about the impact of the strikes is being closely watched, after President Donald Trump said almost immediately after they took place that Iran’s program had been obliterated, language echoed by Parnell at Wednesday’s briefing.
Such conclusions often take the U.S. intelligence community weeks or more to determine.
“All of the intelligence that we’ve seen [has] led us to believe that Iran’s — those facilities especially, have been completely obliterated,” Parnell said.
Over the weekend, the head of the UN nuclear watchdog, Rafael Grossi, said that Iran could be producing enriched uranium in a few months, raising doubts about how effective US strikes to destroy Tehran’s nuclear program have been.
Several experts have also cautioned that Iran likely moved a stockpile of near weapons-grade highly enriched uranium out of the deeply buried Fordow site before the strikes and could be hiding it.
But US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said last week he was unaware of intelligence suggesting Iran had moved its highly enriched uranium to shield it from US strikes.
A preliminary assessment last week from the Defense Intelligence Agency suggested that the strikes may have only set back Iran’s nuclear program by months. But Trump administration officials said that assessment was low confidence and had been overtaken by intelligence showing Iran’s nuclear program was severely damaged.
According to Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, the strikes on the Fordow nuclear site caused severe damage.
“No one exactly knows what has transpired in Fordow. That being said, what we know so far is that the facilities have been seriously and heavily damaged,” Araqchi said in the interview broadcast by CBS News on Tuesday.
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Switzerland Moves to Close Gaza Humanitarian Foundation’s Geneva Office Over Legal Irregularities
Palestinians carry aid supplies received from the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation in the central Gaza Strip, May 29, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ramadan Abed/File Photo
Switzerland has moved to shut down the Geneva office of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a US- and Israeli-backed aid group, citing legal irregularities in its establishment.
The GHF began distributing food packages in Gaza in late May, implementing a new aid delivery model aimed at preventing the diversion of supplies by Hamas, as Israel continues its defensive military campaign against the Palestinian terrorist group.
The initiative has drawn criticism from the UN and international organizations, some of which have claimed that Jerusalem is causing starvation in the war-torn enclave.
Israel has vehemently denied such accusations, noting that, until its recently imposed blockade, it had provided significant humanitarian aid in the enclave throughout the war.
Israeli officials have also said much of the aid that flows into Gaza is stolen by Hamas, which uses it for terrorist operations and sells the rest at high prices to Gazan civilians.
With a subsidiary registered in Geneva, the GHF — headquartered in Delaware — reports having delivered over 56 million meals to Palestinians in just one month.
According to a regulatory announcement published Wednesday in the Swiss Official Gazette of Commerce, the Federal Supervisory Authority for Foundations (ESA) may order the dissolution of the GHF if no creditors come forward within the legal 30-day period.
The Trump administration did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the Swiss decision to shut down its Geneva office.
“The GHF confirmed to the ESA that it had never carried out activities in Switzerland … and that it intends to dissolve the Geneva-registered branch,” the ESA said in a statement.
Last week, Geneva authorities gave the GHF a 30-day deadline to address legal shortcomings or risk facing enforcement measures.
Under local laws and regulations, the foundation failed to meet several requirements: it did not appoint a board member authorized to sign documents domiciled in Switzerland, did not have the minimum three board members, lacked a Swiss bank account and valid address, and operated without an auditing body.
The GHF operates independently from UN-backed mechanisms, which Hamas has sought to reinstate, arguing that these vehicles are more neutral.
Israeli and American officials have rejected those calls, saying Hamas previously exploited UN-run systems to siphon aid for its war effort.
The UN has denied those allegations while expressing concerns that the GHF’s approach forces civilians to risk their safety by traveling long distances across active conflict zones to reach food distribution points.
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Key US Lawmaker Warns Ireland of Potential Economic Consequences for ‘Antisemitic Path’ Against Israel
US Sen. James Risch (R-ID) speaks during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing, Washington, DC, May 21, 2024. Photo: Graeme Sloan/Sipa USA via Reuters Connect
Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman James Risch (R-ID) issued a sharp warning Tuesday, accusing Ireland of embracing antisemitism and threatening potential economic consequences if the Irish government proceeds with new legislation targeting Israeli trade.
“Ireland, while often a valuable U.S. partner, is on a hateful, antisemitic path that will only lead to self-inflicted economic suffering,” Risch wrote in a post on X. “If this legislation is implemented, America will have to seriously reconsider its deep and ongoing economic ties. We will always stand up to blatant antisemitism.”
Marking a striking escalation in rhetoric from a senior US lawmaker, Risch’s comments came amid growing tensions between Ireland and Israel, which have intensified dramatically since the Hamas-led attacks on southern Israel on October 7, 2023. Those attacks, in which roughly 1,200 Israelis were killed and more than 200 taken hostage, prompted a months-long Israeli military campaign in Gaza that has drawn widespread international scrutiny. Ireland has positioned itself as one of the most vocal critics of Israel’s response, accusing the Israeli government of disproportionate use of force and calling for immediate humanitarian relief and accountability for the elevated number of Palestinian civilian casualties.
Dublin’s stance has included tangible policy shifts. In May 2024, Ireland formally recognized a Palestinian state, becoming one of the first European Union members to do so following the outbreak of the war in Gaza. The move was condemned by Israeli officials, who recalled their ambassador to Ireland and accused the Irish government of legitimizing terrorism. Since then, Irish lawmakers have proposed further measures, including legislation aimed at restricting imports from Israeli settlements in the West Bank, policies viewed in Israel and among many American lawmakers as aligning with the controversial Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement.
While Irish leaders have defended their approach as grounded in international law and human rights, critics in Washington, including Risch, have portrayed it as part of a broader pattern of hostility toward Israel. Some US lawmakers have begun raising the possibility of reevaluating trade and diplomatic ties with Ireland in response.
Risch’s warning is one of the clearest indications yet that Ireland’s policies toward Israel could carry economic consequences. The United States is one of Ireland’s largest trading partners, and American companies such as Apple, Google, Meta and Pfizer maintain substantial operations in the country, drawn by Ireland’s favorable tax regime and access to the EU market.
Though the Trump administration has not echoed Risch’s warning, the remarks reflect growing unease in Washington about the trajectory of Ireland’s foreign policy. The State Department has maintained a careful balancing act, expressing strong support for Israel’s security while calling for increased humanitarian access in Gaza. Officials have stopped short of condemning Ireland’s actions directly but have expressed concern about efforts they see as isolating Israel on the international stage.
Ireland’s stance is emblematic of a growing international divide over the war. While the US continues to provide military and diplomatic backing to Israel, many European countries have called for an immediate ceasefire and investigations into alleged war crimes.
Irish public opinion has long leaned pro-Palestinian, and Irish lawmakers have repeatedly voiced concern over the scale of destruction in Gaza and the dire humanitarian situation.
Irish officials have not yet responded to The Algemeiner’s request for comment.
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