Saturday, March 17, 2007 marked 15 years since the bombing of the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires in which 29 people lost their lives and hundreds were wounded - embassy staff and passersby, Argentinians and Israelis.
As it does annually, the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires held a memorial ceremony (March 16) at the site of the former embassy, which serves today as both a public garden and a memorial. Participating in the ceremony will be Argentinian government ministers, Israel Foreign Ministry Director General Aaron Abramovich, Israeli ambassadors from Latin America, Israeli diplomats who survived the bombing or lost their loved ones, and members of the Buenos Aires Jewish community.
Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Tzipi Livni noted that the government of Israel is committed to protecting its citizens throughout the world and will continue pursue those responsible for the deadly attack on Israel's embassy in Buenos Aires, as well as the bombing two years later (18 July) at the AMIA Jewish community center there.
FM Livni expressed her confidence that the Argentinian government will not rest until the terrorists are brought to justice. Israel and Argentina share common values of freedom and democracy and are partners in the war against world terror. This is an all-out war against extremists who take cynical advantage of the freedoms offered by the democracies of the free world to harm those values and to sow death and destruction among innocent civilians.