The Italian Betrayal: How Jerusalem Lost Its Right-Wing Ally in Rome

Italy's decision to suspend its security agreement with Israel has drawn sharp criticism from Israeli commentators, who argue the move represents a preventable diplomatic breakdown, one that may ultimately hurt Rome more than Jerusalem.

Writing in Israel Hayom, analyst Ariel Kahana argues that the suspension carries little practical significance for Israel's security, but reveals a deeper failure: the missed opportunity to turn Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni into a pro-Israel pivot within the European Union.

Meloni, who built her political career in Italy's hard right, was once considered an ideological ally of Likud and maintained close ties with Israel's ambassador to Rome. She remains surrounded by figures who are openly sympathetic to Israel. Given that backdrop, Kahana writes, a more attentive Israeli diplomatic effort, especially under what he calls Israel's current "full right-wing government" - could have turned her into a key European advocate. Instead, the opposite occurred.

The piece describes a prolonged cooling: Israel's ambassador has been summoned repeatedly for reprimands, Italy's defense minister has accused Israel of war crimes, and Meloni herself reportedly blamed Israel for her failed constitutional referendum last month, a domestic reform effort that, Kahana notes with dark irony, touched on judicial overhaul.

Kahana suggests Meloni may be using Israel as a convenient punching bag amid her own political weakness at home, but argues that stronger relationship-building could have provided her other outlets. Now that she has specifically targeted the security dimension of the bilateral relationship, he says Israel should respond in kind, making clear that the life-saving intelligence it shares with Italy carries a price, and that there are limits to the diplomatic humiliation Jerusalem is prepared to absorb.

"The other cheek," he concludes, "is offered in Rome, not in Jerusalem."