Argentine retired military general César Milani, alongside several key figures from the opposition, shared an antisemitic conspiracy theory on Sunday claiming two Israelis used an IDF grenade to cause a wildfire in the Patagonia region of southern Argentina.
In a post on the wildfires, Milani placed the blame on "a foreign state, pointed out by the locals themselves as responsible," alongside a picture of Argentine President Javier Milei waving an Israeli flag.
Waldo Wolff, one of Argentina's Jewish community referents and deputy in the city of Buenos Aires legislature, called Milani "a coward," claiming that he was trying to hide his antisemitism by not explicitly mentioning Israel.
Opposition lawmaker Luis D'Elia, who is also accused of being the link between Iran and the Argentine administration that gave impunity to the Iranian politicians accused of the bombing of the AMIA in 1994, posted: "The 'Israelis' are going around burning Patagonia. Listen to this kid."
False accusation against Israel leads to wildfire conspiracy fiasco
The false rumors about an Israeli involvement in the wildfires that are hitting the Patagonia region started on Saturday, when radio host Marcela Feudale stated during a live coverage that there were reports of two Israelis causing the fires.
She later went back on her statements, said she "didn't aim to discriminate against anybody," and apologized for using a mistaken source. She even shared a post by Meeretz Argentina and sociologist Kevin Ary Levin that explained "why it's important to combat these dangerous theories."
Some of the theories shared online claimed that an M26 grenade produced by Israel was found in Patagonia, in the context of the fires in the province of Chubut. Argentine fact-checking group Chequeado addressed the false claims, stating that the grenade was actually a model FMK2, produced by Fabricaciones Militares, as confirmed by the provincial government.
The wildfires that advanced across Chubut have already affected 3,500 hectares (35 square kilometers), with reports that rain in the area is helping efforts to extinguish the fires.
President Milei slammed the journalist, saying she is part of "the dark side of Argentina," and added, "I don't think it was a coincidence. They use Israel and the Jews to attack the government, and it got completely out of hand."
Mauro Berenstein, president of the Delegación de Asociaciones Israelitas Argentinas (DAIA), told Clarin, "Pointing without evidence to 'two Israelis' as responsible for the fires is irresponsible and dangerous. It generates stigmas, reinforces an anti-Jewish narrative, and hatred. The media have an enormous responsibility: a lie is not an opinion. From the DAIA, we will not allow it."
Sabrina Ajmenchet, congresswoman in Milei's party La Libertad Avanza in Argentina's lower chamber, said: "It was exactly the same as those who accuse Israel of wanting to burn the forests to keep who-knows-what, or the government of having a macabre plan for Jews to control Patagonia. Would you have said 'two Chileans,' 'two Uruguayans,' 'two Spaniards,' or 'two Australians'? No. You had an objective."
Argentina delays Jerusalem embassy inauguration over oil project near Falkland Islands
The situation arose as Israel and Argentina face their first diplomatic hurdle since Milei assumed office in 2023, after reports emerged that Argentina was delaying the move of its embassy to Jerusalem due to bilateral tensions over an Israeli company’s plans to drill for oil in a field near the Falkland Islands. This was first reported by N12 on Sunday.
Both Argentina and the United Kingdom consider the Falkland Islands (called Malvinas in Argentina) to be their sovereign territory, and the matter remains disputed.
The opening of Argentina’s new embassy in Jerusalem was scheduled for Independence Day 2026, but has allegedly been suspended.
Mathilda Heller contributed to this report.