The Isaac Accords: How a Declined Prize Became a Bridge Between Israel and Latin America

Argentina’s Javier Milei redirected his $1 million Genesis Prize into a new alliance-building effort. Nine months on, the American Friends of the Isaac Accords say the initiative is already reshaping Israel’s standing across the region.

By Khurram Ali Raza

Faith & Freedom News (FFN)

A New York-based nonprofit born from a president’s decision to give away a million-dollar prize is now at the center of one of the more unusual diplomatic experiments to emerge from the Western Hemisphere in years. The American Friends of the Isaac Accords (AFOIA), established in 2025 by the Genesis Prize Foundation, has spent the months since its founding quietly building what its backers describe as a new architecture of cooperation between Israel and the democracies of Latin America.

AFOIA describes its mission as strengthening economic, cultural, and diplomatic cooperation between Israel and Latin American democracies. Operating at the intersection of public and private diplomacy, the organization connects governments across Latin America, the United States, and Israel with private-sector leaders, civil society groups, and Jewish communal partners, with the stated goal of countering isolation and building alliances meant to endure beyond any single administration.

An Accord Born From a Prize

The Isaac Accords initiative traces its origins to Argentine President Javier Milei, the 2025 Genesis Prize Laureate. Modeled explicitly on the Abraham Accords — the 2020 agreements that normalized relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Morocco — the Isaac Accords aim to foster comparable partnerships across the Western Hemisphere, grounded in shared democratic values, innovation, security cooperation, and mutual prosperity.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Milei formally launched the initiative at the presidential level in Jerusalem in April 2026, giving the project its first head-of-state imprimatur roughly a year after Milei’s own Genesis Prize ceremony.

Voices Behind the Initiative

The launch drew public support from Israeli officials and, notably, a formal statement from the United States.

“Given the hostility toward the Jewish state from some nations in the region, support of Israel by Latin American countries which are now on the sidelines is very important. President Milei’s vision for the Isaac Accords is highly admirable, as is the practical support provided by the Genesis Prize Foundation and AFOIA.” Danny Danon, Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations

Danon went further, calling Israel a longtime beacon of innovation and resilience and describing a Latin America–Israel alliance rooted in shared values as “long overdue,” while thanking President Milei for setting an example for his neighbors in the region.

“The potential Isaac Accords between Israel and Latin American nations offer an important vehicle for increasing mutually beneficial alignment and cooperation… The Isaac Accords also stand to benefit the United States through the bolstering of its allies, support of hemispheric security and growth, combating the global rise of antisemitism, and advancing reform of increasingly radical and anti-American international organizations.” Official U.S. Government Statement on the Isaac Accords Initiative

What AFOIA Says It’s Trying to Do

• Promote diplomatic and economic cooperation between Israel and Latin American democracies.
• Advance educational and cultural exchanges that foster mutual understanding.
• Counter antisemitism and extremism through public awareness campaigns and joint projects.

Funding and Origins

AFOIA says it welcomes partnership with like-minded donors committed to closer ties between Israel and Latin American democracies, to combating rising antisemitism in the region, and to fostering mutually beneficial cultural, educational, and business exchanges.

Leadership

The Genesis Prize Foundation’s Latin American initiative — and AFOIA’s day-to-day operations — are led by Ambassador S. Fitzgerald “Fitz” Haney, Managing Director for Latin America. Haney served as U.S. Ambassador to Costa Rica from 2015 to 2017, appointed under the Obama administration and continuing his post into the Trump administration, and brings a background spanning diplomacy, business development, and Israeli venture capital. He is fluent in Spanish, Portuguese, and Hebrew.

Early Results on the Ground

In the months since its establishment, AFOIA says it has accelerated alignment between Israel and several Latin American partners. Among the developments the organization points to:

• A Declaration of Shared Principles advancing ties with Israel and combating antisemitism, signed by roughly one-third of Brazil’s legislature.
• New Jerusalem Offices of Innovation established with Ecuador and Costa Rica, including a Costa Rican Trade and Innovation Office carrying diplomatic standing.
• Training programs for journalists, influencers, and student leaders across six countries.
• Mass-casualty and trauma-care training for 200 medical professionals in Costa Rica, delivered in partnership with Rambam Health Care Campus, which AFOIA says contributed to improved public perception and subsequent diplomatic steps.
• Sustained engagement with UN ambassadors aimed at strengthening multilateral support for Israel.
• Expanded academic and innovation partnerships with Israeli institutions.
• Development of frameworks intended to scale the model for broader regional adoption.

Grantee partners to date include: ILAN Israel Innovation Network, StandWithUs, Israel Allies Foundation, Rambam Health Care Campus, Passages Israel, Yalla Israel (Maccabee Task Force), and Fuente Latina.

AFOIA’s backers argue that real progress has already been achieved, and that sustained momentum will further strengthen Israel’s global standing, deepen critical alliances, and help shape a more stable and principled international environment. For up-to-date information on diplomatic relations between Latin American countries and Israel — including UN voting records, designations of Hamas and Hezbollah, and embassy locations — as well as AFOIA’s grantee organizations and grantmaking policy, readers can visit isaacaccords.org.

Stan Polovets

Co-Founder, Chairman & CEO, Genesis Prize Foundation

An American businessman and philanthropist with a background in international energy, including senior leadership roles tied to TNK-BP and other major oil and gas ventures. Stanford-educated, holding both an MBA and an MA, Polovets has built a career as a CEO, board director, and advisor across energy, private equity, and philanthropy. He now leads the foundation behind the annual $1 million Genesis Prize, widely referred to as the “Jewish Nobel.”

Javier Milei

President of Argentina

An economist and libertarian politician who has led Argentina since December 2023, Milei has become known for his outspoken pro-Israel stance, sweeping economic reforms aimed at curbing inflation and fiscal deficits, and vocal advocacy for free-market and Western democratic values. He was the 2025 Genesis Prize Laureate — the first sitting head of state and first non-Jewish recipient of the honor — recognized for his support of Israel, including plans to relocate Argentina’s embassy to Jerusalem and efforts tied to past antisemitic attacks in Argentina. He directed his prize funds toward launching the Isaac Accords initiative.