Eichmann being captured was all on Israel. It was Israel's decision to go after him, to capture him, to try him, and ultimately to execute him. And while overall the operation is often remembered as a triumph, it had unforeseen consequences for the Jews of Argentina, as while the incident soon blew over on a diplomatic level, it was then taken as pretext for one of the worst public expressions of antisemitism in Argentinian history.

Eichmann was captured in Argentina because that's where he was. He had gone there, as many Germans, including former Nazis, had, in the aftermath of WWII, though unlike 80% of these Germans, he actually remained in Argentina, settling first in the province of Tucuman and then moving to Buenos Aires, where he remained along with his wife and family (whom he sent for in 1952), working for Mercedes Benz. He was discovered to be in Buenos Aires due to the efforts of Simon Wiesenthal, who passed the information and several photographs to the Israeli consulate in Vienna and to the Mossad. His identity was confirmed by a half-Jewish German man in Buenos Aires named Lothar Herrmann, whose daughter Sylvia was dating Eichmann's son, Klaus (Nick), and was shocked to discover her boyfriend's father's identity. She met Eichmann while visiting Klaus's home- Eichmann claimed to be Klaus's uncle- and her father passed the information to Fritz Bauer, a prosecutor in West Germany, who passed it on to the Mossad. The Israeli government then decided to bring Eichmann to Jerusalem to stand trial under Israeli law. They decided to use a law, created in the vein of the idea of "crimes against humanity," which they called "crimes against the Jewish people," as the justification; it had been used before against Jewish residents of Israel, but never against a Nazi. (I have previously written about the Eichmann trial and some of Israel's decision-making in regards to it here.) Eichmann was abducted from his home by a team of Mossad operatives in May 1960 and brought back to Israel, where he famously stood trial and was later executed.

It's easy to hear the story and not think too much about the question of where Argentina stood on this. But then you realize- why didn't they extradite? After all, Isser Harel, head of the Mossad at the time, understood that to abduct Eichmann would be "a secret operation in the sovereign territory of a friendly state; and the question as to whether we were entitled, morally and politically, to do such a thing faced us in all its pungency." However, David Ben Gurion, prime minister of Israel at the time, decided to abduct Eichmann without getting Argentina involved as the extradition process would inevitably be lengthy and complex, both giving Eichmann the time to escape and potentially never even coming together, given the complexity of the issues. To him, capturing and trying Eichmann was worth it despite the diplomatic concerns.

When Eichmann was initially captured, Ben Gurion, in his address to Israel's Knesset (Parliament), he did not say where he had been found, but the rumor soon spread that it had been in Argentina, which was news to that country. When the Argentinian foreign minister complained to the Israeli ambassador upon hearing this, he, too, had no idea of what was going on, and soon advised Israel to deny that Eichmann had been captured in Argentina. After all, under the government of President Arturo Frondizi, Argentina and Israel had a very good relationship, with Israeli government officials, including then-Foreign Minister Golda Meir, visiting Argentina and receiving a warm welcome. In general, Jews, too, were being well treated on a governmental level in Argentina, despite a history of a sort of endemic antisemitism there; antisemitic incidents were rare and, when they occurred, were vigorously condemned by the government. Major political parties included Jews, and the community felt secure. (Anecdotally, my grandmother was a young adult in Argentina at this time and remembers it being overall a very good environment to be in as a Jew.) The Israeli ambassador wanted neither Israel's good relationship with Argentina nor the position of Argentinian Jews (who would, as often happens, be linked to whatever Israel had done) to be jeopardized by the kidnapping.

On one level this desire succeeded, and on another it abjectly failed. While Frondizi was angry that Israel had violated Argentina's sovereignty, he was also gratified that he had been captured and brought to justice given the severity of his crimes, and also wanted to avoid antisemitic outbursts in response to the kidnapping. Nationalist groups with historically antisemitic leanings- including ex-Nazis and those influenced by them, most influential in the military- were already agitating against the Jews. Frondizi initially recalled his ambassador from Israel for consultation, requested that Eichmann be returned to Argentina and that a formal extradition request be submitted, and declared Israel's ambassador in Argentina to be persona non grata. In addition, Argentina's ambassador to the UN registered a complaint there, leading to a condemnation of Israel and an order for it to provide restitution to Argentina. However, only a few months after the kidnapping, Argentina was already making efforts to repave the path toward peace and a good relationship between Argentina and Israel, due to an attempt to ease over smaller conflicts in the wake of the Cold War, which was a much bigger concern, as well as in an attempt to preserve good relationships with the US, as Argentina perhaps overestimated the influence of Jews there. It worked with Israel to publish an official apology on Israel's part, and by September, Israel was hosting an archaeological exhibition sponsored by the Argentinian government; soon after, a main street in Buenos Aires was named Estado de Israel.

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