"In light of the current situation, the government has decided to suspend the automatic renewal of the defence agreement with Israel," Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said today.
After years of support for Israel, for the first time, Meloni has suspended the memorandum of understanding for defense cooperation between the two countries. Until now, the prime minister has been content with merely condemning Israeli attacks that have damaged churches or Italian property, but at the end of the week, the Italian Foreign Ministry summoned the Israeli ambassador to Rome, Jonathan Peled, for a reprimand following an incident in which they claim IDF soldiers fired warning shots at Italian UNIFIL soldiers in southern Lebanon.
According to reports in the Italian media, this agreement, which has been severely criticized even by opposition parties, establishes a framework for defense cooperation including the exchange of military equipment and technological research. The opposition also complains that precisely at this time, when relations between Italy and Israel are not optimal, the issue in question should not be automatically and tacitly renewed.
"What must happen for the government to prevent the automatic renewal that begins today?" asked Democratic Party Secretary Elly Schlein. At the same time, the Five Star Movement group in the Senate submitted a question addressed to the Minister of Defense and Foreign Affairs, calling on the government to "immediately clarify its intentions on the matter. We want to know," they wrote, "whether the executive branch intends to suspend this agreement, which can be done at any time." They also claimed that the automatic renewal of the defense agreement "tarnishes Italy's name."
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on April 14, 2026.
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