Imagined Judaism and the Political Moralization of the West

philosemitism in Javier Milei’s Discourse

Abstract

This article examines how Argentine president Javier Milei reconfigures Judaism, Moses, and the State of Israel into a symbolic repertoire through which he moralizes the West and legitimizes his political project. Drawing on a full corpus of presidential speeches (2023–2025), and using a qualitative design that combines directed content analysis with grounded theory, the study reconstructs the emergent categories that organize Milei’s discourse: imagined Judaism, the Moses cluster, and Israel as civilizational exemplum. Contrary to European and Brazilian cases in which right-wing philosemitism subordinates Judaism to Christian conservative identity, Milei inverts this relation. His discourse elevates Judaism to the status of civilizational origin and moral template, transforming biblical motifs into a political rationality that sanctifies free-market capitalism, frames Israel as the distilled West, and positions Argentina as a redeemed disciple within a global struggle between good and evil. By analyzing these symbolic operations through the lenses of philosemitism, performativity, and governmentality, the article shows how Jewish otherness is preserved and mobilized as a source of moral authority. The findings illuminate the distinctive workings of philosemitic imaginaries within the contemporary global right and contribute to broader debates on moralized geopolitics.