Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said her government had suspended a defence cooperation deal with Israel, reflecting frayed ties between previously close allies as the conflicts in the Middle East continue.
ROME, April 14 (Reuters) – Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Melon He said Tuesday that his government had suspended a defense cooperation agreement with Israel, reflecting frayed ties between the previously close allies. Conflicts in the Middle East to continue.
MelonThe right-wing government was one of Israel’s closest friends in Europe, but in recent weeks Israel’s He criticized their attacks In Lebanon, where hundreds of people died and thousands were injured.
Israel also fired warning shots at Italian soldiers serving under UN authority in Lebanon last week, damaging a vehicle.
“When there are things we do not accept, we act accordingly.” Melon he told reporters on the sidelines of a wine fair in Verona, northern Italy.
“In light of the current situation, the government has decided to suspend the automatic renewal of the defense agreement with Israel,” he added.
Melon‘s announcement marked a new diplomatic realignment for the right-wing government; criticized another close allyUS President Donald Trump for his attacks on Pope Leo.
A source close to the matter, who wished to remain anonymous, said: Melon He made the decision on Monday together with foreign and defense ministers Antonio Tajani and Guido Crosetto, as well as Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini.
Israel’s foreign ministry downplayed the results.
The statement said, “We do not have any security agreement with Italy. We have a memorandum of understanding from years ago that does not contain any important content. This will not affect Israel’s security.”
Antonio Masiello via Getty Images
Melon It has been in power since 2022 and will face a general election in late 2027.
“This is a repositioning,” political historian Lorenzo Castellani of Rome’s Luiss University told Reuters.
“Even the center-right fears that a significant portion of voters will be highly critical of Trump and Netanyahu and the effects of this war on Iran on the economy,” he added.
Opposition parties in Italy have been calling for a halt to the agreement with Israel for a long time.
The memorandum, signed in 2003 by the government of then-Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, entered into force in 2006 and was to be automatically renewed every five years unless one of the parties withdrew.
It covers areas such as supply, training and “import, export and transit of defense and military equipment”.
As diplomatic tensions escalate, Rome last week summoned the Israeli ambassador to protest an incident involving Italian troops in Lebanon. Then on Monday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government summoned the Italian ambassador “to discuss the situation in Lebanon.”
(Reporting by Angelo Amante and Alvise Armellini; Additional reporting by Alexander Cornwell, Nayera Abdallah and Maayan Lubell; Editing by Barbara Lewis and Keith Weir)
