The president of Argentina, Javier Milei, participated this Sunday in Jerusalem in the rehearsal of the torch lighting ceremony, the central event for Israeli Independence Day, which is commemorated this Monday. But he went beyond protocol and, joining a group of local artists, took the microphone and sang Librethe legendary song by Spanish Nino Bravo.
During the official pre-recording of the event, the far-right was so spontaneous as to, showing off his well-known love for music, sing in chorus with Mali Levi and Rotem Cohen. His performance was accompanied by a stage performance in which groups of young people waved Argentine flags, in an image captured by official cameras and gone viral in the last few hours.
In reality, Milei should have limited himself to turning on one of the lights, a gesture reserved for prominent figures and which, according to local authorities, makes him the first foreign leader to receive that honor.
It is not the first time that the ultra president sings the Valencian song. Of course, showing off its libertarian spirit, which has little to do with the original of the song. Even the Chilean dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet already used Libre to attack communism. The reason? It is a song that has been believed to have been inspired by the death of young Peter Fechter at the Berlin Wall. He was shot down in 1962 while trying to cross to the other side. Milei went so far as to explain in 2020 that, when Bravo sings the verse “on his chest crimson flowers / sprang incessantly”, he was referring to the blood that came out “everywhere” from Fechter’s body after being murdered: “The song is made in honor of Peter Fechter,” he said then, exposes Neutral.
However, the song, released in 1972 by Nino Bravo and composed by José Luis Armenteros and Pablo Herrero, has more to do with the desire for freedom that the Spanish people had. The dictator Francisco Franco was already dying, but he bit, and suffocation was widespread. In 2021, Herrero denied any relationship with Fechter’s death. In an interview with Radio Nacional de España (RNE), he clarified that the inspiration for the song was the “lack of freedom” of Franco’s Spain: “We didn’t have to look at Germany. We were living it here, he said.
He added that the song “was the product of a rebellion” of a generation born after the war that lived through the dictatorship “based on good” and strong repression until 1975. The dictator Franco died on November 20, 1975.
Photograph provided by the Presidency of Argentina showing its president, Javier Milei, during a visit to the Western Wall, on April 19, 2026, in Jerusalem.
Go for the Isaac Accords
Songs aside, Milei and the Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, signed yesterday in Jerusalem the so-called “Isaac Accords”, a new strategic framework aimed at strengthening bilateral cooperation and expanding Israel’s alliances with like-minded countries in Latin America.
The initiative, presented during an official event after the signing of several sectoral agreements, seeks to strengthen “diplomatic, commercial, cultural and security” ties between Israel, Argentina and other potential partners, with an open invitation to countries that share “values of freedom, democracy and the rule of law” in the region, Milei stated during the event.
“For decades, our region has been dragged towards decadence by left-wing and anti-capitalist governments that made common cause with terrorism, drug trafficking and anti-Semitism. That has to change. And today, with the support of the United States, we have the opportunity to produce that transformative change,” added the Argentine president.
As part of the event, authorities from both countries signed memorandums of understanding in areas such as artificial intelligence and air transport.
The Israeli Foreign Minister, Gideon Saar, participated in the signing of an agreement in the technological field, while the Minister of Transportation, Miri Regev, signed an air services agreement together with the Argentine Foreign Minister, Pablo Quirno.
The agreement on artificial intelligence contemplates the promotion of technological cooperation between both countries, with the aim of promoting innovation, joint development and the exchange of knowledge in a sector considered strategic by both administrations.
During his intervention, Netanyahu positioned the Isaac Accords as an extension of the spirit of the Abraham Accords, promoted in 2020 with the support of the United States during the first administration of the current US president, Donald Trump.
The initiative, Milei and Netanyahu stated, is open to the accession of other Latin American countries, in what both leaders presented as a supposed new axis of international cooperation in the West.
For his part, Milei described the initiative as “a historic step” to deepen the relationship between both countries and promote a bloc of nations aligned “in the defense of freedom and security.”
The Argentine president reiterated his Government’s support for Israel and the United States, and defended the creation of international alliances based on common values. Likewise, he recalled the attacks against the AMIA and the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires, “attributed by the Argentine justice system to Iran”, and demanded justice for the victims.
The US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, praised the “leadership” of Netanyahu and Milei during the event, stating that both represent “fundamental values of Western civilization” and act “with moral clarity.”
Huckabee also considered that the Isaac Accords represent “an extraordinary opportunity” to expand cooperation between Israel, Argentina and other countries, and stressed US support for this type of initiative.
