Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni announced on Tuesday the suspension of a joint defense agreement with Israel, which includes the exchange of military equipment and technological research.
“The government has decided to suspend the automatic renewal of the defense agreement with Israel in consideration of the current situation,” Meloni told reporters Tuesday during a visit to Verona. Italy’s Defense Minister Guido Crosetto informed his Israeli counterpart Israel Katz of the decision in a letter, ANSA reported.
The decision is a political signal in response to Israeli attacks and raids carried out by the Israeli army in Lebanon, according to Corriere della Sera.
Tensions between Italy and Israel escalated last week after Rome accused Israeli forces of firing warning shots at a convoy of Italian soldiers serving with the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).
The Italian government issued a condemnation statement on Wednesday stating it was “completely unacceptable that personnel operating under the UN flag be put at risk by irresponsible actions,” adding that it summoned the Israeli ambassador to Rome demanding explanations.
On April 12, UNIFIL condemned the Israeli military for deliberately ramming UN vehicles with a tank, destroying surveillance equipment, and obstructing peacekeeper movements in Southern Lebanon.
“Over the past week, Israeli soldiers have fired ‘warning shots’ in the area, striking and damaging clearly identifiable UNIFIL vehicles. In one case, a ‘warning shot’ landed a meter away from a peacekeeper who had dismounted his vehicle,” it stated.
Israel reportedly downplayed the announcement, with the Foreign Ministry telling Israeli media that the pact was a memorandum of understanding rather than a security agreement, meaning there was no practical significance to the decision.
In 2003, the two governments signed in Paris a memorandum of understanding on military cooperation. As noted by Corriere della Sera, the agreement serves as a framework for military research and technological development. Since its ratification in 2005, the pact has operated on a five-year cycle with an automatic renewal clause.
The agreement comprises 11 articles that provide the overarching framework for bilateral defense relations. Article 3 serves as the operational heart of the pact, governing high-level meetings between defense ministers, the exchange of military information and expertise, and joint maneuvers. It also facilitates the invitation of observers, military cultural exchanges, and the logistics of naval and aircraft visits to ports and airbases.
Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani told Lebanese President Joseph Aoun that Rome was ready to host negotiations between Lebanon and Israel in a meeting one day before the suspension.
While Italy has long been considered a strong ally of Israel, the decision signals mounting anger in Europe over Israeli escalation in the Middle East.
In October, Spain passed a law banning arms exports to the Israeli occupation army in condemnation of the aggression on Gaza, as Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has repeatedly called for the cancellation of the EU-Israel Association Agreement due to what he described as Israeli violations of international law.
