A hardline member of Netanyahu's own governing coalition has publicly broken with Israel's official neutrality on the Malvinas dispute, the same day Argentina filed criminal charges against an Israeli-headquartered oil company for operating in the islands without authorization.
Israel's Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben Gvir, has publicly urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to recognize Argentine sovereignty over the Malvinas (Falkland Islands) and to impose sanctions on the United Kingdom "for as long as the occupation continues," accusing London of seizing Argentine territory and oil resources.
Es hora de que el Estado de Israel reconozca públicamente que las Islas Malvinas son territorio argentino ocupado, que los británicos le roban violentamente al pueblo argentino.
Translation: "It is time for the State of Israel to publicly recognize that the Malvinas Islands are occupied Argentine territory, violently stolen by the British from the Argentine people."
Ben Gvir's comments came the same day Argentina's government announced criminal charges against Navitas, an Israeli company headquartered near Tel Aviv and listed on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, and its subsidiaries, over oil operations the government says were conducted without authorization in the Malvinas (Falkland Islands). Argentina's government also outlined tougher sanctions on companies operating under British licenses in the islands and proposed legislation extending penalties to suppliers of those companies, while barring violators from future government contracts.
The dispute centers on the Sea Lion project, a large offshore oil development in waters off the islands that has been in the works for more than a decade and is expected to begin production around 2028. Navitas holds a majority 65 percent stake in the project; the remaining 35 percent belongs to Rockhopper Exploration, a UK-incorporated company listed on London's AIM market. Argentina considers any drilling there to be extraction of Argentine resources without its consent, a position the UK government and the operating companies reject.
Argentina's government has separately revived plans for a naval base near Ushuaia, roughly 700 kilometers from the islands, and has instructed the Economy Ministry to prioritize funding for the project in the 2027 budget submitted to Congress this month.
Ben Gvir is no stranger to staking out foreign-policy positions independent of Netanyahu. As a hardliner within Israel's governing coalition, he has previously called for annexing parts of the West Bank, pushed for rebuilding Jewish settlements in Gaza, and clashed publicly with allies, including the United States, over the postwar administration of Gaza. His Malvinas remarks follow that same pattern: a position with no formal government backing, made public in a way that puts pressure on Netanyahu from within his own coalition rather than through official channels.
The intervention adds an unusual dimension to the long-running Malvinas dispute: a sitting Israeli cabinet minister publicly siding with Argentina against a NATO ally, even without his government's backing. It is likely to be read less as a shift in Israeli foreign policy than as another instance of Ben Gvir using an unrelated international dispute to reinforce his own political standing at home, where his coalition partners have increasingly sought to distinguish themselves from Netanyahu.
No UK government response to Ben Gvir's remarks had been issued as of publication.
Source: Euronews; Ynetnews.