The recent presidential elections in Argentina are expected to bring about a change in Buenos Aires's ties with Jerusalem.

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While outgoing President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner was in favor of returning the Golan Heights to Syria and has been accused of covering up the 1994 terror attack at a Jewish community center in the Argentine capital, newly-elected President Mauricio Macri has close ties to the country's Jews.

Speaking to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday, Macri promised Argentina's policy towards Israel will change for the better, and expressed hope that cooperation between the two countries grows.

Macri also appointed two prominent figures in the Argentine Jewish community as ministers in his government. Rabbi Sergio Bergman was appointment environment minister, while Claudio Avruj was appointed as a sub-minister responsible for human rights.

New president Mauricio Macri (Photo: GettyImages)

Rabbi Bergman, 53, is a conservative rabbi who has been a member of Macri's political party and his close associate for the past eight years.

He was born in Argentina and later went to study in Israel, where he was also ordained as a rabbi. He then returned to Argentina to serve as the rabbi of the famous Templo Libertad synagogue in Buenos Aires, the city's first synagogue, built in 1897. The synagogue serves both the orthodox and conservative communities.

Bergman is involved in inter-religious dialogue in Argentina, and even joined the delegation of rabbis who accompanied Pope Francis in his visit to Israel in 2014.

Bergman was one of Kirchner's harshest critics, and did not hesitate to slam Kirchner's Jewish foreign minister, Héctor Timerman, accusing him of being behind the agreement signed between Argentina and Iran over the investigation of the 1994 terror attack against the Jewish community in Buenos Aires.

Outgoing president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner (Photo: AFP)

Bergman is a passionate Zionist and has been following Israeli politics. "I'm always concerned with Israel's security, and at the same time admire Israel for its progress and development in the fields of science and technology," he said in the past.

He also criticized religious coercion in Israel and the fact the Reform and Conservative movements are not recognized by Israeli authorities.

Claudio Avruj was the executive director of the political umbrella organization of Argentine Jewry, the DAIA. In recent years, he has been serving as the deputy minister on human rights in Buenos Aires, and has now been appointed as a sub-minister dealing with the same issue.

Among other things, Avruj also served as the director of the Holocaust museum in the Argentine capital, and is publicly affiliated with Israel and the Jewish community. He has also been a close associate of the new president for many years.

Avruj said Macri views Israel as a leading country in the fields of technology and security, and that during his meeting with Netanyahu in 2014, the incoming president expressed his desire for Argentina to form a strategic partnership with Israel in these fields.

Avruj also estimated that Macri is likely to completely change Argentina's policy towards Iran.