Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Photo: YouTube screenshot.

JNS.org – The Argentine Jewish community is reportedly assisting with funding Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s historic trip to Latin America in mid-September.

Netanyahu will visit Argentina and Mexico. He is expected to improve trade ties for Israel and open a dialogue with Latin America’s Jewish community. It marks the first time a sitting Israeli prime minister will visit the region.

Argentina is home to some 230,000 Jews, the largest Jewish community in Latin America. The Argentine Jewish community agreed to pay about $100,000 of the expenses for the Israeli leader’s visit, the Globes financial news website reported.

Argentine Jewish leaders reportedly lobbied David Sutton Dabbah, the Orthodox Jewish owner of the Alvear Palace Hotel in Buenos Aires, to lower the cost of the prime minister’s stay at the venue.

Agustin Zbar, president of Asociación Mutual Israelita Argentina, told Globes it was a “big honor” to subsidize Netanyahu’s trip and that the Jewish community was doing so “out of a feeling of solidarity.” Some community members, however, oppose the move because it will divert funds from local Jewish causes.