Italy is declining to renew a longstanding defense agreement with Israel, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said on Tuesday, a sharp reversal for her right-wing government.<\/p>\n
Ms. Meloni made the announcement on the sidelines of an event in Verona, and a government official said that Italy\u2019s defense minister, Guido Crosetto, had sent a letter to his Israeli counterpart, Israel Katz, announcing the decision.<\/p>\n
The defense accord, ratified in 2005, established cooperation between the two countries in areas including \u201cdefense industry and procurement policy,\u201d importing and exporting military equipment, exchanging technical data and other forms of military collaboration. It has been renewed every five years, and was set for another renewal this month.<\/p>\n
Opposition parties had put pressure on the government for over a year to suspend the renewal. Marco Grimaldi, an opposition lawmaker, said the decision was \u201ca victory\u201d for those who had protested Israel\u2019s military offensive in Gaza over the last three years.<\/p>\n
Foreign Minister Gideon Saar of Israel played down the importance of the agreement. \u201cThere isn\u2019t even an agreement,\u201d he wrote in a social media post<\/a>. \u201cThere is a memorandum of understandings that was never materialized or had any substantive content. Israel\u2019s security will not be impacted.\u201d<\/p>\n Until recently, Ms. Meloni\u2019s government had been one of Israel\u2019s closest supporters. When Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel visited Rome in March 2023<\/a>, Ms. Meloni described Israel as a \u201cfriend and key partner of Italy, in the Middle East and at global level.\u201d<\/p>\n But relations between the two countries have deteriorated sharply. When Italy\u2019s foreign minister, Antonio Tajani, visited Lebanon on Monday, he angered Israel by posting on X<\/a> that the trip intended to show Italy\u2019s \u201csolidarity\u201d with Lebanon \u201cfollowing the unacceptable attacks by Israel against the civilian population.\u201d He added, \u201cWe must avoid at all costs another escalation like the one in Gaza.\u201d<\/p>\n Israel\u2019s foreign ministry on Monday summoned Luca Ferrari, Italy\u2019s ambassador in Tel Aviv, to protest Mr. Tajani\u2019s comments. Mr. Tajani had summoned Israel\u2019s ambassador to Italy the week before to condemn \u201cthe bombings on the Lebanese civilian population,\u201d as well as a gunfire incident earlier this month in which Israeli soldiers fired warning shots at an Italian convoy that was part of a United Nations mission in Lebanon.<\/p>\n Italy\u2019s stance on the Middle East conflict has also worsened relations with President Trump. Speaking to a reporter at the Milan daily newspaper Corriere della Sera on Tuesday,<\/a> Mr. Trump said he had been \u201cvery shocked\u201d by Ms. Meloni\u2019s decision to not assist the United States in the war against Iran, and by her \u201cletting America do all the work\u201d for Italy, \u201cwhich gets its oil from Iran.\u201d<\/p>\n Ms. Meloni had said on Monday that it was \u201cunacceptable\u201d for Mr. Trump to attack Pope Leo XIV<\/a>, who has been critical of the war.<\/p>\n \u201cDo people like her? I can\u2019t believe it,\u201d he said in the interview, adding: \u201cI thought she had courage. I was wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n