Italian PM Giorgia Meloni visits Great Synagogue

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni visited the synagogue in Rome on Tuesday and pledged to defend Italian Jewish citizens “from all forms of antisemitism.. “With this visit, I wish to show my solidarity with the Roman and Italian Jewish community, because in the terrible scenes coming from Israel – she said – there is something more than what one sees in a normal, yet tragic, war scenario.” After the meeting, Meloni told reporters that “in the house-to-house hunt for civilians, in the roundup of children and young people, there is hatred towards a whole people, something more than a fight against the State of Israel.” “We need to intensify the defense of Jewish citizens, including on our territory, because the risk of emulation of the criminal acts by Hamas could reach us here,” she emphasized. Speaking at a government briefing on the Mideast crisis, Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said that “Israel is a sovereign nation that has the right to live in peace and security” and called for a “united message” from the Parliament in support of Israel. This is not the first time Israel has been attacked, Tajani said. But the latest attack “was unprecedented.”