Analysis
Meloni condemns Israel for civilian attacks but continues military support
Conte: “Meloni and her colleagues should spare us their hypocritical statements and words after their silence, complicity and more than 60,000 Palestinian deaths. They have no decency.”
The Italian government is trying to have it both ways. News that Israeli raids had struck Gaza City’s Holy Family parish, wounding Father Gabriele Romanelli, sparked a chorus of condemnation from Italy’s cabinet: “The attacks against the civilian population that Israel has been carrying out for months are unacceptable. No military action can justify such behavior,” Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni wrote on X.
Hot on her heels came the ministers: “The Israeli army’s attacks on Gaza’s civilian population cannot be tolerated any longer,” declared Foreign Minister and Forza Italia leader Antonio Tajani, who phoned his Israeli opposite number Gideon Saar. Defense Minister Guido Crosetto called the war “something inhuman, heartbreaking, horrible” that “has been going on for months.” Chamber speaker Lorenzo Fontana (Lega) and Senate president Ignazio La Russa (FdI) also weighed in along the same lines.
The outrage erupted just as the Chamber was debating a joint motion from the Democratic Party, Five Star Movement and Greens/Left Alliance to cancel a 2005 memorandum with Israel on military and defense cooperation. The pact renews automatically every five years unless one side gives six months’ notice; the next renewal falls in April 2026, and the motion sought withdrawal before that date. While government tweets condemning Israel were piling up, the motion still went down to defeat.
Speaking for the government, Defense undersecretary Matteo Perego di Cremnago (Forza Italia) defended the memorandum for its “industrial and employment benefits,” saying it had “significantly strengthened Italy’s defensive capabilities.”
“Isolating Israel will not allow a political solution to the crisis,” he added.
Charges of hypocrisy came instantly. “While Meloni was tweeting against Israeli raids on civilians, her majority was voting down what could have been a clear signal against Netanyahu’s government – a shameful hypocrisy,” railed PD leader Elly Schlein.
During the speeches in which each group justified their vote, AVS co-leader Nicola Fratoianni pressed the coalition: “Have the courage to leave hypocrisy behind and admit openly that you are accomplices of that government and its criminal choices.”
Five Star president Giuseppe Conte echoed him: “Meloni and her colleagues should spare us their hypocritical statements and words after their silence, complicity and more than 60,000 Palestinian deaths. They have no decency.”
Then the session continued with business as usual. The chamber approved a proposal to institute a national day for journalists killed for doing their job – more than 200 of whom have died in Gaza since October 2023.
Originally published at https://ilmanifesto.it/il-governo-indignato-versa-lacrime-ma-tiene-in-piedi-il-memorandum on 2025-07-18