Hours before Argentina faced Spain in the World Cup final, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sent a message to President Javier Milei.
"Javier [Milei], you are a real friend, a great friend. We support you, we support Argentina, in so many ways."
Spain defeated Argentina 1-0 soon afterwards, but the match had already taken on a political meaning far beyond its footballing context.
Across social media, many framed Argentina as Israel’s team and Spain as Palestine’s. The symbolism was not difficult to understand.
Milei has made support for Israel a defining feature of Argentina’s foreign policy. He has backed Netanyahu throughout the Gaza genocide, spoken publicly about converting to Judaism and pledged to move Argentina’s embassy to Jerusalem.
