Netanyahu thanks Italian PM for affirming Jewish connection to Jerusalem

Netanyahu and the Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman thanked the Italian premier for saying that his country’s abstention from an anti-Israel UNESCO resolution was a mistake and will not recur.

Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi on Friday called the UNESCO resolution denying the Jewish connection to Jerusalem’s holy sites “shocking,” vowing that his country, which abstained, will vote against similar texts in future.

“To say that the Jewish People has no connection to Jerusalem is like saying that the sun creates darkness,” Renzi stated.

These resolutions that attack Israel are “incomprehensible, unacceptable and wrong,” he said during a trip to Brussels, where he spoke on Italian radio. “I have ordered that we stop taking this position, even if it means diverging from the position taken by the rest of Europe. I have asked diplomats handling these issues to cease doing so.”

Matteo said that upon his return home, he plans to summon his foreign minister, Paolo Gentiloni, regarding the abstention.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanked Renzi for his comments in a telephone conversation over the weekend.

“We warmly congratulate the Italian government and the Italian Prime Minster for this useful statement,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nachshon said. “We hope Italy guides the way for other European countries and countries all over the world.”

Hundreds of people protested in Rome on Wednesday against Italy’s abstention in the UNESCO resolution denying Jerusalem’s Jewish heritage.

By: Atara Beck, World Israel News