Italy and Israel, 75 years of diplomatic relations

On January 25, 1949, the Italian government led by Alcide De Gasperi “de facto” recognized the newly founded State of Israel. To celebrate 75 years since the establishment of official relations, a conference was held in the Senate sponsored by senators Lucio Malan and Marco Scurria, respectively president of the Italy-Israel Inter-Parliamentary Friendship Group and president of the Italian section of the Transatlantic Friends of Israel and both members of PM Giorgia Meloni’s Brothers of Italy party.
“We live on the same sea, we enjoy the same values,” said the Israeli ambassador to Italy Alon Bar welcoming the many achievements reached since then.
Last year, he remarked, the two countries were about to take a “further step forward” through the organization of an intergovernmental summit. After October 7, the event was canceled but, he said, “I hope it will be held in the near future.” Dwelling on current events, the ambassador spoke of the war as “imposed” by Hamas’ terrorists and defended the army’s work in its efforts to avoid civilian casualties, “which are the consequence of Hamas’ use of them.” Bar also stressed that any ceasefire “will necessarily have to include the release of the hostages, ensure the Hamas threat is removed and allow the return of residents to their homes in southern and northern Israel, without the threat of rockets and terrorism.”
The ambassador then explained that he is concerned “about the demonization and hatred of Jews and Israel, often under the cover of promoting peace and justice.” An issue raised among others by UCEI President Noemi Di Segni, who said she views “with very grave concern” the escalating tone of pro -Palestinian protests and the ways in which criticism of Israel takes place. This criticism, she added, is “increasingly detached from any knowledge of the facts, increasingly responding to the logic of enemy hunting and distortion that feeds on anti-Israel and antisemitic prejudice and hatred.” This, Di Segni remarked, “take place at demonstrations, with grave offense even to the highest institutional offices of the Italian state, as well as to Israel itself, but also in school and university venues, which should be places of confrontation, listening, deepening and knowledge.”
Victor Fadlun, president of the Jewish Community of Rome, highlighted that Italy recognized the State of Israel “a few months after its constitution, in a year that marked for Italy a great rebirth, with the first steps of the Republic founded on the newfound values of freedom and democracy, long affected and crushed by Nazi-Fascism.” There is “a thread, I would say uniting us between Rome and Jerusalem, Italy and Israel,” Fadlun continued. A thread “of great human qualities and a culture that feeds relentlessly”.
Numerous testimonies were given on the Senate floor by politicians of multiple orientations, moderated by AJC Transatlantic Institute deputy director Benedetta Buttiglione.