Rome, Italy

Following the Israeli military’s frankly genocidal march into Gaza, a series of diplomatic exchanges occurred at the most official levels. European states, among them Germany and Italy, took issue with the excess civilian death inflicted by the Israeli advance, and voiced these concerns. Israel’s response was a crude remark that implied that the current German and Italian governments are no different than those of Hitler and Mussolini. It seemed as though it was not only Israel’s bomber pilots that had gone insane, but also Israel’s diplomats, forgetting over 80 years of rich and deep relations between Europe and Israel, choosing instead to insult our countries by bringing up the crimes of nearly a century ago – crimes that both Italy and Germany have paid for.

The Italian government followed the German government in cutting diplomatic contact with Israel over this. The Israeli ambassador in Rome has been declared persona non grata and has been expelled from Italy. The Italian ambassador to Israel in Tel Aviv has been recalled just before this announcement was made public (to steal from the Israelis the satisfaction of expelling him).

Israeli citizens in Italy and San Marino are forwarded to Israeli embassies in Switzerland, Austria, Croatia, and France for their diplomatic needs. Any urgent needs that Israel has to communicate to Italy will be done in Brussels via the Israeli Mission to the European Union.

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni remarked “I am called a fascist enough by George Soros’ fake news media. I am a peaceful Prime Minister who wishes only to improve the conditions of all Italians. I do not need to stand to be called a fascist by presumptuous upstart war mongers and genocidaires in a desert.”