Argentina's Alberto Fernandez May Challenge Macri's Decision to Declare Hezbollah a "terrorist organization"

The President-elect of Argentina is avoiding making any public comments about the decree, but LPO was told by a member of his inner circle that the document is a "blunder" on the part of Foreign Minister Jorge Faurie, tailor-made to meet the geopolitical needs of Donald Trump.

The argument - shared by Fernández's advisors - stems from the fact that Hezbollah is a movement with institutional existence and enjoys recognition as a political party with in the Republic of Lebanon. " Through a political agreement, a member of Hezbollah is also part of the governing coalition. If it is considered a terrorist organization, the declaration should in any case condemn the entire country," they said to illustrate the "hypocrisy" with which the decree was written.

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"Alberto has yet to state his position on this issue, but if he considers that the decree has errors, of course it could be repealed," said another source close to the President-elect. Although they recognized that the biggest problem would be the political implications.

Alberto is aware that this reversal would lead to conflict with Israel, and his advisors are careful to make it clear that no one speaks "on behalf" of the President-elect. "This is not a priority for the Frente de Todos", they said referring to Fernandez's political coalition. "He's not gonna rush it."

An indication of tension with Israel is Netanyahu's delay in congratulating Alberto after his election victory. A meeting took place between the president-elect and Israel's ambassador, Galit Ronen, in the posh Puerto Madero neighborhood in Buenos Aires. There were no photos taken. "It was a quiet meeting," they said of the summit held 10 days ago.Alberto's team does not ignore that this issue will spark controversy and they clarify that there is a goodwill to have a positive relationship with Israel and especially with the local Jewish community. For this reason, Alberto has decided that a group of his closest advisors, led by Jorge Argüello, Eduardo Valdés, Guillermo Oliveri and Marcela Losardo, will attend the AMIA's (Argentine Israelite Mutual Association) annual dinner. "He was in Mexico and they treated us as their representatives," one of them confided to LPO. They were also seen exchanging some words with Ambassador Ronen.

Alberto's team does not ignore that this issue will spark controversy and they clarify that there is a goodwill to have a positive relationship with Israel and especially with the local Jewish community. For this reason, Alberto has decided that a group of his closest advisors, led by Jorge Argüello, Eduardo Valdés, Guillermo Oliveri and Marcela Losardo, will attend the AMIA's (Argentine Israelite Mutual Association) annual dinner. "He was in Mexico and they treated us as their representatives," one of them confided to LPO. They were also seen exchanging some words with Ambassador Ronen.

Last year, on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the AMIA terrorist attack, Macri decided to create by decree a Public Registry of Persons and Entities linked to acts of Terrorism (Repet), in which he included Hezbollah. The text bears the signatures of the President, Chancellor Faurie and the Minister of Justice, Germán Garavano.

Up to that moment, Argentina was under the guidance of the UN Security Council, which does not include Hezbollah in his terrorist organization list. The outgoing president did so despite the opposition of the Arab community in Argentina, as a gesture to some Jewish community organizations and in line with the Israeli Embassy, which is now on stand-by for what the new government will do.