Jewish library and Chabad near Buenos Aires attacked, Argentinian Jewish advocates say

JTA – Counterterrorism officials in Buenos Aires are investigating after a Jewish library and a Chabad centre in a suburb in the Argentinian capital were attacked last week. 

On Thursday night, a Molotov cocktail was thrown at the Israeli Literary Center and Max Nordau Library in La Plata, according to a statement by the centre’s board of directors on Friday. Multiple individuals “threw a blunt object filled with fuel at the front of the library, breaking windows and causing material damage”, the board said, noting that the device did not ignite and no one was injured. 

The library, a secular educational centre founded in 1912 that promotes Argentinian Jewish culture, said it is reinforcing security measures in light of the attack. 

On Sunday, the Chabad of La Plata was also attacked, according to the Delegación de Asociaciones Israelitas Argentinas (DAIA), the Argentinian Jewish community group, which condemned both attacks. DAIA, which first reported the Chabad attack, did not describe the nature of the attack beyond reporting no injuries. 

“We are deeply concerned about the recurrence and the short timeframe of these incidents,” DAIA said in a statement. 

The Ministry of Security of the Province of Buenos Aires and the Complex Crimes and Counterterrorism Unit of the Buenos Aires Provincial Police are investigating both attacks. 

La Plata’s Jewish population numbers about 2 000, and its Chabad centre has existed for more than 25 years. Argentina as a whole is home to the sixth-largest Jewish community in the world and the largest in Latin America, mostly centred in Buenos Aires. 

“These acts of violence threaten democratic coexistence and the values of respect and pluralism that we defend our neighbours,” La Plata Mayor Julio Alak said. “We will not allow hatred and intolerance to have a place in our city.” 

Argentina is the site of some of the deadliest attacks on Jewish institutions in modern history. A 1992 bombing of the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires killed 29 people, while a 1994 attack on the AMIA (Asociación Mutual Israelita Argentina) Jewish community centre left more than 80 people dead. Argentina’s President Javier Milei, a pro-Israel and philosemitic economist, has advanced efforts to hold Hezbollah and Iran responsible for their alleged role in the attacks after years of foot-dragging by prior leaders. 

The incidents in La Plata come as Jewish institutions around the world are on high alert amid a string of attacks since the start of the United States-Israel war on Iran in February. Several synagogues and Israeli outposts in Europe have faced arson attacks that a group seen as tied to Iran have claimed responsibility for staging. No one has been injured in those attacks. 

Argentina has also faced homegrown antisemitism scandals. In September, a video of a group of Buenos Aires high school students on a graduation trip chanting “Today we burn Jews” went viral, earning condemnation from Jewish community advocates and even Milei himself. The group, from the private school Escuela Humanos, was travelling with Escuela ORT, a Jewish school. 

Following the attacks in La Plata, comments on a local news outlet’s Instagram post were filled with antisemitic tropes, including blood libel and false flag theories. Antisemitism watchdogs say false flag allegations, holding that an operation is staged to look like an attack in order to garner sympathy for the victim or attribute blame to another party, have flourished in recent years against Jews and Israel.