Analysis
Meloni dodges the Gaza question: Will Italy stand by while Israel starves civilians?
‘You are one of the very few prime ministers, if not the only one, in Europe who has not said a single word about what is happening in Gaza, partly because you share Israel’s policy and partly because you are subordinate to President Trump and cannot utter a word.’
As of Wednesday, May 7, the Italian prime minister still hasn’t managed to take any public position on Israel’s occupation of the Gaza Strip. Giorgia Meloni, long silent on Benjamin Netanyahu’s operations, dodged the subject once again during the scheduled “prime minister time” in the Senate. She remains the only European leader who has yet to speak out.
Despite the opposition’s announcements, Meloni felt no real pressure, partly because she wasn’t seriously pressed. Only AVS senator Beppe de Cristofaro insisted on the point: “You are one of the very few prime ministers, if not the only one, in Europe who has not said a single word about what is happening in Gaza, partly because you share Israel’s policy and partly because you are subordinate to President Trump and cannot utter a word.”
Other brief mentions in passing followed from Democrat Francesco Boccia and Five-Star senator Stefano Patuanelli. The Senate rules put the opposition at a disadvantage: the questions had been filed two weeks earlier, before the initially scheduled session which was postponed, and dealt with the cost of living and energy bills. All the minority could do was request an urgent briefing from Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani on “the government’s position on the dramatic situation in Gaza”.
However, the M5S didn’t lend their vote to amend the agenda, because, according to Patuanelli, “we have never gotten answers from the government and we’ve had enough”; instead, the party pressed for their bill to recognize the State of Palestine, tabled more than three months ago.
Meanwhile, Meloni was able to leave Parliament still on the fence, so as to remain aligned behind Trump, while elsewhere in Europe leaders are pondering the question of how to prevent Israel’s nationalist government from delivering a deathblow to the Palestinians.
EU High Representative Kaja Kallas, speaking in Warsaw, warned of “an appalling loss of life in Gaza” and insisted that “Israel must fully reinstate humanitarian aid into Gaza.” Dutch minister Caspar Veldkamp formally called for a review of the EU-Israel Association Agreement, citing breaches of Article 2 on humanitarian law. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez announced that Spain had submitted a draft resolution to the UN General Assembly urging urgent measures to stop the killing of innocent civilians and guarantee humanitarian aid in the Strip. French President Emmanuel Macron said the situation in Gaza is “the most critical than we have ever seen” and called for the humanitarian corridor to be reopened.
Replying to a softball question from Noi Moderati senator Michela Biancofiore, Meloni limited herself to saying that Italy supports a lasting solution to the Middle-East conflict, backing the Arab countries’ plan to rebuild Gaza with the aim of a two-state solution. But not just yet, stressed Foreign Minister Tajani, who claimed that those in Gaza “still have time”. The path involving the Palestinian Authority, which he said the right-wing government would support “with great conviction”, is deferred to the future.
“Recognizing Palestine today is pointless; it is merely a rhetorical exercise that would produce negative effects,” the foreign minister maintained. He too finds himself isolated, as his counterparts in Spain, Iceland, Ireland, Norway, Slovenia and Luxembourg have rejected Israel’s plan to occupy the Strip and “strongly” oppose any system that does not guarantee humanitarian access.
“The government has entrenched itself under the cover of the two-state formula,” commented the PD’s Peppe Provenzano, “which, if not accompanied by a condemnation of what is happening in Gaza, sounds outrageously rhetorical: it is not just an immoral omission, it is complicity.”
Statements from M5S and AVS struck the same tone, echoing the positions expressed by The Left group in the European Parliament. On Wednesday, the group called for an immediate inquiry into the drone strikes against the humanitarian vessel Conscience off the coast of Malta and for concrete action against the Netanyahu government, including suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement, an arms embargo and sanctions in response to the decision to occupy Gaza.
(with reporting from Strasbourg by Andrea Valdambrini)
Originally published at https://ilmanifesto.it/la-reticenza-della-premier-in-attesa-della-linea-di-trump on 2025-05-08