Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks during a press conference (AP Photo/Domenico Stinellis)
Opposition leader: Italy should avoid shipping weapons to the Middle East, ‘particularly Israel.’
By Vered Weiss, World Israel News
In response to political criticism, Italy’s Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Antonio Tajani told the Italian press that Italy had stopped all arms shipments to Israel starting on October 7th, as reported by ANSA.
Tajani who belongs to the conservative Forza Italia party was responding in the media to criticisms made by Social Democratic opposition leader Elly Schlein that Italy should avoid shipping weapons to the Middle East, “particularly Israel.”
She said, “We cannot risk weapons being used to commit what could be construed as war crimes.”
Tajani replied to the press that Schlein was “misinformed” and he added, “Since October 7, we have decided not to send any more arms to Israel, so there is no need to discuss this point.”
Before October 7th, 5% of Israel’s overseas arm shipments came from Italy.
In other interviews, Tajani said he would commit Italian troops to a peacekeeping mission in Gaza if needed.
Tajani is a retired Air Force officer who took the lead of Forza Italia after the death of its chairman Silvio Berlusconi who was prime minister for a total of 9 years.
Tajani made a solidarity trip to Israel soon after October 7th and declared that Israel had the right to defend itself within the boundaries of international law.
Since then he has been at times critical of the IDF, including the shooting inside of a Gaza church, and has also supported a proposal that would bring about an end to the war through a ceasefire, a policy Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected.
However, Tajani opposed South Africa’s claim that Israel has committed war crimes and said that although the IDF has killed civilians in Gaza, Israel isn’t guilty of genocide.
The former head of Forza Italia, Berlusconi was highly controversial, but a strong supporter of Israel and even proposed that the Jewish State be a member of the European Union.
Berlusconi also sold 30 fighter jets to Israel for a billion dollars.
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