An Argentinian judicial body removed a federal judge from office on Tuesday following a series of antisemitic messages and hostile posts targeting both the Jewish community and Israel, including calling Jews “rats and vipers.”
The decision by the Council of the Magistracy to dismiss Alfredo Lopez over poor performance and gross misconduct was the first time in the country’s history that a judge was stripped of office over anti-Jewish hate speech.
The court reviewed over a dozen social media posts where the judge displayed systematic hostility toward the Jewish community and Israel, and concluded that they breached judicial impartiality.
The former judge had also accused Argentinian Jews of not being truly Argentine, employing a classic antisemitic trope.
Argentina’s Jewish community is the largest in Latin America, with an estimated 170,000 members, most of whom reside in the capital.
