Piñeiro: Antisemitism Is Antisemitism, Whoever Says It

Alejandro Piñeiro, who formerly represented Argentina at the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, offered a direct standard for identifying antisemitism: the identity of the person expressing it does not change the nature of the statement or act.

“When I served as Argentina’s ambassador to the IHRA, I was asked whether a Jewish person can be antisemitic,” Piñeiro said. “I stand by my answer: anyone who makes an antisemitic statement or commits an antisemitic act is an antisemite.”

He also tied the fight against antisemitism to Israel’s broader place in the democratic West. “Israel is the only stable and established democracy that protects the moral values of the West in the most complex region of the world,” Piñeiro said.

Isaiah 5:20 warns, “Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil.” The verse speaks directly to the need for consistent moral standards. Hatred does not become acceptable because of the identity, politics or background of the person expressing it.

Antisemitism Requires a Consistent Standard

The IHRA working definition describes antisemitism as a perception of Jews that may be expressed as hatred toward them. Its examples also address attacks on Israel when the Jewish state is treated differently because it represents the Jewish collective. At the same time, the definition explicitly states that ordinary criticism of Israel, comparable to criticism directed at other countries, is not antisemitic.

Piñeiro’s argument therefore focuses on conduct rather than identity. Being Jewish does not automatically make every statement about Jews or Israel acceptable, just as belonging to another group does not determine whether a statement is hateful. The content and context remain what matter.

That question has become especially relevant as antisemitism increasingly overlaps with political arguments surrounding Israel. Argentina currently holds the IHRA presidency, becoming the first South American country to lead the organization. Buenos Aires has made combating antisemitism, strengthening Holocaust education and defending historical truth central priorities of its presidency.

Argentina Places Israel Within the West

Piñeiro’s defense of Israel also reflects a broader shift in Argentina under President Javier Milei. During Argentina’s IHRA presidency, Foreign Minister Pablo Quirno described the country as standing for memory, freedom and the moral values of the West. He also described Argentina’s relationship with Israel as a strategic alliance.

Milei has taken that argument further, describing Israel as a Western stronghold against forces hostile to both Judaism and Western civilization. His government has also emphasized the connection between antisemitism and terrorism, drawing on Argentina’s own history of attacks against the Israeli Embassy and the AMIA Jewish community center.

The expanding political relationship has surfaced in other disputes as well. In “Ben-Gvir: Recognize Falkland Islands as Argentine Territory,” Israel’s national security minister called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to recognize Argentina’s claim to the Falkland Islands and sanction Britain. The proposal came amid worsening Israeli-British tensions over measures targeting Judea and Samaria.

Why the Debate Matters in America

The same debate carries direct relevance in the United States. Washington is an IHRA member and has used the organization’s working definition as a tool for recognizing antisemitism. The State Department has also encouraged governments and institutions around the world to use it.

That standard becomes increasingly important when debates over Israel move into universities, politics and public demonstrations. Strong disagreement with Israeli policy is not inherently antisemitic. However, Jewish identity should not provide an automatic exemption when rhetoric crosses into hostility toward Jews, collective blame or antisemitic stereotypes.

The principle protects honest debate rather than restricting it. A consistent definition allows criticism of governments while preserving a clear boundary against hatred directed toward a people.

Truth, Memory and the Defense of Freedom

Israel and the United States share a covenantal tradition that connects freedom with responsibility before God. Both national stories place weight on truth, human dignity, the protection of innocent life and resistance to ideologies that turn entire peoples into objects of hatred.

Holocaust remembrance gives those principles particular urgency. Antisemitism rarely begins with physical violence. It grows when societies excuse hatred, redefine it for political convenience or decide that some forms of it do not count.

Piñeiro’s statement reduces that problem to a simple moral test: antisemitism should be judged by what is said or done, not by who says or does it. That standard strengthens both Jewish security and democratic debate.

His defense of Israel carries the same argument into geopolitics. If Israel represents a democratic state defending itself in a region shaped by terrorism and authoritarianism, then defending Israel’s legitimacy is also part of defending the wider values shared by Jerusalem, Washington and increasingly Buenos Aires.

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