President Milei discussed the Malvinas (Falkland Islands) with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday at United Nations headquarters in New York, in what was his only bilateral meeting with a head of state or government during the week of the General Assembly.
The closed-door meeting lasted about 20 minutes. Foreign Minister Pablo Quirno and Economy Minister Luis Caputo accompanied Milei, according to La Nación and Infobae. Quirno confirmed to reporters afterwards that the two leaders had discussed "the situation of the Malvinas Islands," but gave no details.
The subject carries a specific edge between the two governments. Navitas Petroleum, an Israeli company, is the operator of the Sea Lion oil project north of the islands alongside Britain's Rockhopper Exploration, and Argentina has pursued it through the courts since filing a criminal complaint against the company earlier this month. A federal judge later ordered a halt to the Sea Lion project. Asked whether the case against Navitas had come up, Quirno said only that the conversation had gone well.
Infobae reported that Milei had raised Navitas with Netanyahu months earlier, and that the Israeli leader had answered that the matter involved a private company outside his control. Netanyahu has taken no public position on Argentina's sovereignty claim, although Israel's national security minister, Itamar Ben Gvir, urged him in September to back it and sanction Britain.
The public portion of the encounter was effusive. "President Milei is one of the great leaders of our time," Netanyahu said, praising the Argentine government's economic program. Milei replied: "It is an honor for me to receive your words, coming from one of the greatest leaders." According to Infobae, the two also discussed the situation in the Middle East.
The meeting capped a New York visit in which Milei used his General Assembly speech to call the UN "useless" over the Malvinas and pressed investors on Vaca Muerta. Israel is one of Milei's closest international partners, and the Navitas case means Argentina's sovereignty campaign now runs directly through that relationship.