Until not too long ago, Latin America was a distant observer of the Middle East conflict. That's changing really fast and -- for good or for bad -- will change faster in the future.

Following three years of frantic Iranian activities in Latin America that included three trips by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to the region -- a fourth visit is scheduled in August to Brazil -- and the opening or enlargement of a half-dozen Iranian embassies, Israel is beginning to raise its own profile in the region.

Israel's foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman, is currently on a 10-day visit to Brazil, Argentina, Peru and Colombia in the first Latin American tour by an Israeli foreign minister in 23 years. And Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to visit Brazil, Argentina and perhaps a third country in the region in November, in what would be the first such visit in recent memory, Israeli officials say.

In a telephone interview from Buenos Aires, where she was accompanying the Israeli foreign minister, Dorit Shavit, the head of the Israeli foreign ministry's Latin American Department, told me that Lieberman's visit is aimed at strengthening Israel's relations with the region and countering Iran's growing influence in Latin America.

"Since 2005, when Ahmadinejad was elected, Iran has opened embassies in Nicaragua and Ecuador, sent more diplomats to Chile and Uruguay, and they are interested in opening up embassies in Peru and Panama," Shavit said.

Why is Israel so concerned about this? I asked.

"Two things," Shavit said.

"First, because Iran's president threatens to wipe Israel off the map. He has said that several times, and it's something unacceptable if you are talking about two states that are members of the United Nations. And it's not a hypothetical threat because they are not only trying to develop a nuclear program, but also trying to develop missiles with 2,000-kilometer ranges that can reach Israeli cities.

"Second, Iran is the main sponsor of terrorist organizations, like Hezbollah, Hamas and Islamic Jihad," Shavit said. "They are very active in maintaining terrorist organizations, [giving] them training, financial help and hosting some of its leaders."

Citing Iran-backed Hezbollah's apparent responsibility for the 1992 terrorist attack on the Israeli embassy in Argentina and the 1994 bombing of the Argentine Jewish Mutual Association building that left 84 dead, Shavit said her country suspects that Iran has strong connections to Hezbollah cells in the region.

THE TRIPLE FRONTIER

Asked where Hezbollah is operating in the region, she mentioned -- in this order -- the triple frontier between Paraguay, Argentina and Brazil; Margarita Island in Venezuela; the Guajira peninsula in Colombia and Mexico. She did not elaborate on where in Mexico the terrorist network is allegedly active.

"They [Hezbollah] are very busy collecting money and sending it to Lebanon," she said. "They say they do it to send money to families who suffer from the Middle Eastern conflict, but we are 90-percent sure that at least part of the money goes to buy arms for Hezbollah."

My opinion: Lieberman's visit to Latin America is part diplomacy, part domestic political damage control.

Lieberman, a hawk who effectively represents West Bank settlers in Israel's coalition government, is -- to put it mildly -- a controversial figure at home.

According to a June 7 article in Israel's daily Haaretz, he has been pretty much marginalized from overseeing Israel's relations with Washington, which are handled directly by Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak, as well as from ties with the Arab world, which are conducted by President Shimon Peres.

GROWING PRESENCE

And Iran's growing presence in Latin America is also part diplomacy, part domestic politics. Ahmadinejad, who by many accounts stole the recent Iranian elections, is isolated internationally for his refusal to honor global nuclear agreements and is eager to be seen at home being welcomed by foreign leaders, no matter how far away they are. It would have been great if Israel's current delegation to Latin America had been led by Peres, who could have drawn more attention to the fact that Israel is the only true democracy in the Middle East and a world leader in new technologies. (It is the world's No. 1 in research and development investment per capita and ranks third in registered patents per capita.)

Still, it's good to see Israel raising its profile in Latin America, and not giving Iran's repressive theocracy a free ride in the region.

 

 

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