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Islamist Terror Networks Remain the Top Security Threat to Latin America’s Jewish Communities
People hold up pictures of the victims of the AMIA Jewish center bombing during a ceremony to mark the 22nd anniversary of the 1994 attack in Buenos Aires, Argentina, July 18, 2016. Photo: REUTERS/Enrique Marcarian
On August 16, Argentina’s Federal Police thwarted an Islamist terror plot reportedly linked to ISIS and the Taliban to murder Jews in Mendoza — the second such plot uncovered in Argentina this year.
Last November, Brazilian security services unfoiled a similar attack against the country’s Jewish community, which was planned by the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Lebanese terror proxy, Hezbollah.
While these plots were exposed in time to prevent mass murder, they sadly demonstrate that the Jewish communities in Latin America remain the target of both Sunni and Shiite Islamist terrorist networks that, until recently, appear to have operated with impunity.
Last month, I joined representatives of Jewish organizations from around the world in Buenos Aires to honor the victims of the 1994 bombing, which targeted the headquarters of the AMIA Jewish community center established in 1894. The attack, which was masterminded by Iran and its terror proxies, killed 85 people and injured more than 300, making it the deadliest antisemitic attack since the Holocaust, until it was tragically overtaken by October 7.
The AMIA attack came two years after a similar attack, in which a Hezbollah suicide bomber drove a pickup truck into the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires, killing 23 and wounding 242. I have friends who survived this horrendous attack, and others that lost their loved ones.
Argentina’s Jewish community — the largest in Latin America — has yet to see justice served against the perpetrators of these crimes.
The developments over the last week have provided a grim reminder that Islamist terror networks, whether backed by the Iranian regime or other state and non-state actors, remain one of the top security threats to Latin American countries and especially to their respective Jewish communities.
The targeting of Argentina’s Jewish population, despite the country’s physical, political, and military remoteness from the Middle East, demonstrates once again that Islamists target Jews for being Jews, no matter where they are in the world, and no matter what is happening in the Middle East.
Indeed, in July 1994, the same month as the AMIA attack, Yasser Arafat, leader of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), made a historic return to Gaza after the Palestinian Authority (PA) was granted limited self-rule in Gaza and Jericho — a key step in the unfolding Oslo Accords.
Then, as now, it seems that the prospect of peace inspires the cruelest outbursts of terrorist violence against Jews, no matter who or where we are. After all, as analysts have noted, Hamas reportedly planned and executed the October 7 attacks as a response to the success of the Abraham Accords, and out of the fear that Saudi Arabia might soon become a signatory and peace partner with Israel.
While the most recent plot in Mendoza appears to have come from a terror cell espousing ISIS and Taliban rhetoric, the main source of the threat against Latin American Jews remains the Islamic Republic of Iran and its terror proxy, Hezbollah.
What’s more, it seems that today’s threats stem from the activities of longstanding Hezbollah cells and networks that have since become more established and sophisticated.
For example, Colombian police arrested Mahdy Akil Helbawi earlier this month, in coordination with the FBI. Helbawi is also designated by the US Treasury Department as an operative and financier for Hezbollah. Most notably, however, he is the son of Amer Akil Rada — a Hezbollah operative involved in both the bombings of the AMIA and the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires.
Decades after the AMIA atrocity, money is still being funneled to Hezbollah from a range of activities, in Colombia and Venezuela, including drug trafficking.
Hezbollah has a long relationship with South American drug cartels, but they have also expanded into the use of cryptocurrency to more easily launder and transfer their funds. This in turn has helped Hezbollah to adapt and develop the ways in which they target Latin American Jewish communities.
For example, in Brazil, two Hezbollah operatives recruited from local Middle Eastern diaspora communities were able to hire six Brazilian nationals to conduct attacks on Jewish targets in Brasilia. The plot was foiled last November by Brazilian authorities, but demonstrated Hezbollah’s ability to rely on new methods and networks to terrorize Jews and non-Jews alike.
Terrorism is a threat not just to Jews, but to democratic societies all around the globe. It is for this reason that all world leaders who believe in peaceful coexistence must work together to eradicate extremism and fight terrorism.
These efforts should include taking harsher measures against countries that actively promote and support terrorist organizations, such as the Islamic Republic of Iran, and designations and sanctions targeting the entire network of individuals and entities that fund and facilitate terrorism.
In the ceremony of the 30th anniversary of the AMIA, Argentinian President Javier Millei said “Silence supports evil.” Our societies cannot afford another AMIA tragedy, nor another 9/11, nor another October 7, and therefore, silence is not an option.
Marina Rosenberg is Senior Vice President for International Affairs at the Anti-Defamation League, and a former ambassador and diplomat.
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New Poll: Majority of NYC Voters ‘Less Likely’ to Support Mamdani Over His Refusal to Condemn ‘Globalize the Intifada’
Zohran Mamdani. Photo: Ron Adar / SOPA Images via Reuters Connect
In a warning sign for the campaign of Democratic nominee for mayor of New York Zohran Mamdani, a majority of city voters in a new poll say the candidate’s hardline anti-Israel stance makes them less likely to vote for him.
In the survey of likely city voters conducted by American Pulse, 52.5 percent said Mamdani’s refusal to condemn the slogan “globalize the intifada” coupled with his backing of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement made them less likely to vote for him in November. Just 31% of city voters polled were more likely to support him because of these positions.
At the same time, a significant share of young New York City voters support Mamdani’s anti-Israel positioning, a striking sign of shifting generational views on Israel and the Palestinian cause.
Nearly half of voters aged 18 to 44 (46 percent) said the State Assembly member’s backing for BDS and “refusal to condemn the phrase ‘globalize the intifada’” made them more likely to support him.
Mamdani, a democratic socialist from Queens, has been under fire for defending “globalize the intifada,” a slogan many Jewish groups associate with incitement to violence against Israel and Jews. While critics argue it glorifies terrorism, supporters claim it’s a call for international solidarity with oppressed peoples, especially Palestinians. Mamdani has also voiced support for BDS, a movement widely condemned by mainstream Jewish organizations as antisemitic for singling out Israel.
The generational divide exposed by the poll comes amid a broader political realignment. Younger progressives across the country are increasingly critical of Israeli policies, especially in the wake of the Gaza war, and more receptive to Palestinian activism. But to many Jewish leaders, Mamdani’s rising support is alarming.
Rabbi David Wolpe, visiting scholar at Harvard University, condemned the phrase with a sarcastic analogy.
“‘Globalize the intifada’ is just a political slogan,” he said. “Like ‘The cockroaches must be exterminated’ was just a housing authority slogan in Rwanda.”
Jewish organizations have reported a surge in antisemitic incidents in New York and across the U.S. since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war last fall. The blending of anti-Zionist slogans with calls for “intifada,” historically linked to violent uprisings, has deepened fears among Jewish communities that traditional red lines are being crossed.
Whether this emerging coalition reshapes New York politics remains to be seen. However, the poll indicates that among younger voters, views that were once considered fringe are quickly moving into the mainstream.
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Report: Jews Targeted at June’s Pride Month Events
A Jewish gay pride flag. Photo: Twitter.
The research division of the Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM) released a report on Wednesday detailing incidents of hate against Jews which took place last month during demonstrations in celebration of LGBTQ rights and identity.
Incidents reported by the group include:
- At a Pride march in Wales, the activists Cymru Queers for Palestine chose to block the path and show a sign that said “Profiting from genocide,” an attempt to link the event’s sponsors — such as Amazon — to the war in Gaza.
- A Dublin Pride march saw the participation of the Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign, which labeled Israel a “genocidal entity.”
- In Toronto at a late June Pride march, demonstrators again attacked organizers with a sign declaring, “Pride partners with genocide.”
CAM also identified a recurring narrative deployed against Israel by some far-left activists: so-called “pinkwashing,” a term which the Boycott, Divest, Sanctions (BDS) movement calls “an Israeli government propaganda strategy that cynically exploits LGBTQIA+ rights to project a progressive image while concealing Israel’s occupation and apartheid policies oppressing Palestinians.”
The report notes that at a Washington DC Pride event in early June Medea Benjamin, cofounder of activist group Code Pink and a regular of anti-war protests, wore a pair of goofy, oversized sunglasses and a shirt in her signature pink with the phrase “you can’t pinkwash genocide.”
Other incidents CAM recorded showed the injection of anti-Israel sentiment into Pride events.
A musical group canceled a performance at an interfaith service in Brooklyn, claiming the hosting synagogue had a “public alignment with pro-Israel political positions.” In San Francisco before the yearly Trans March, a Palestine group said in its announcement of its participation, “Stop the war on Iran and the genocide of Palestine, stop the war on immigrants and attacks on trans people.”
CAM notes that this “queers for Palestine” sentiment is not new, pointing to a 2017 event wherein “organizers of the Chicago Dyke March infamously removed participants who were waving a Pride flag adorned with a Star of David on the grounds that the symbol ‘made people feel unsafe.’”
In February, the Israel Defense Forces shared with the New York Post documents it had recovered demonstrating that Hamas had tortured and executed members it suspected of homosexuality and other moral offenses in conflict with Islamist ideology.
Amit Benjamin, who is gay and a first sergeant major in the IDF, said during a visit to New York City for Pride month that “All the ‘queers for Gaza’ need to open their eyes. Hamas kills gays … kills lesbians … queers cannot exist in Gaza.”
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IAEA pulls inspectors from Iran as standoff over access drags on
IAEA chief Rafael Grossi at the agency’s headquarters in Vienna, Austria, June 23, 2025. REUTERS/Elisabeth Mandl/File Photo
The UN nuclear watchdog said on Friday it had pulled its last remaining inspectors from Iran as a standoff over their return to the country’s nuclear facilities bombed by the United States and Israel deepens.
Israel launched its first military strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites in a 12-day war with the Islamic Republic three weeks ago. The International Atomic Energy Agency’s inspectors have not been able to inspect Iran’s facilities since then, even though IAEA chief Rafael Grossi has said that is his top priority.
Iran’s parliament has now passed a law to suspend cooperation with the IAEA until the safety of its nuclear facilities can be guaranteed. While the IAEA says Iran has not yet formally informed it of any suspension, it is unclear when the agency’s inspectors will be able to return to Iran.
“An IAEA team of inspectors today safely departed from Iran to return to the Agency headquarters in Vienna, after staying in Tehran throughout the recent military conflict,” the IAEA said on X.
Diplomats said the number of IAEA inspectors in Iran was reduced to a handful after the June 13 start of the war. Some have also expressed concern about the inspectors’ safety since the end of the conflict, given fierce criticism of the agency by Iranian officials and Iranian media.
Iran has accused the agency of effectively paving the way for the bombings by issuing a damning report on May 31 that led to a resolution by the IAEA’s 35-nation Board of Governors declaring Iran in breach of its non-proliferation obligations.
IAEA chief Rafael Grossi has said he stands by the report. He has denied it provided diplomatic cover for military action.
Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Thursday Iran remained committed to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
“[Grossi] reiterated the crucial importance of the IAEA discussing with Iran modalities for resuming its indispensable monitoring and verification activities in Iran as soon as possible,” the IAEA said.
The US and Israeli military strikes either destroyed or badly damaged Iran’s three uranium enrichment sites. But it was less clear what has happened to much of Iran’s nine tonnes of enriched uranium, especially the more than 400 kg enriched to up to 60% purity, a short step from weapons grade.
That is enough, if enriched further, for nine nuclear weapons, according to an IAEA yardstick. Iran says its aims are entirely peaceful, but Western powers say there is no civil justification for enriching to such a high level, and the IAEA says no country has done so without developing the atom bomb.
As a party to the NPT, Iran must account for its enriched uranium, which normally is closely monitored by the IAEA, the body that enforces the NPT and verifies countries’ declarations. But the bombing of Iran’s facilities has now muddied the waters.
“We cannot afford that … the inspection regime is interrupted,” Grossi told a press conference in Vienna last week.
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