Election Results in Italy Could Pose Dilemma for Israel as Far Right Rises to Power

The Brothers of Italy party led by likely prime minister Giorgia Meloni has fascist roots

When Giorgia Meloni emerged as the winner of Italy’s election earlier this week, Israeli users on Twitter began a heated debate over her controversial politics. As the head of the far-right Brothers of Italy party, Meloni is poised to lead a coalition government that could challenge its Israeli counterpart.

Israel is also ahead of elections scheduled for November 1, and Italy’s polarized politics gave Israeli politicians the chance to reemphasize their positions on the political map.

Supporters from the Israeli right hailed Meloni and were quick to congratulate, while politicians from the left were quick to caution.

“This poses a dilemma for Israel,” said Ambassador Mark Regev, chair of the Abba Eban Institute for International Diplomacy at Reichman University. “Israel has to be very careful and cannot be seen as inadvertently supporting a far-right agenda.”

The new far right says it is not fascist, but rather right-wing populists. They can even express policies that are sympathetic to Israel.

The leader of a far-right political party, Meloni’s policies will now lead Italy into a new era not seen in the country for decades.

The policies adopted by the far-right in Italy could put Israel in an uncomfortable position.

Israel’s Foreign Ministry on Monday congratulated Italy on successfully completing its national election, but did not mention the Brothers of Italy party or Meloni in its statement.

“Israel congratulates the Italian people for finishing the election and looks forward to continuing the cooperation and friendship with the government that will be established and with the Italian people,” the statement said, in part. The statement also said that “Italy is an important friend of Israel.”

According to Regev, there is “added complexity” in the emergence of the right in Italy.

“Historically, Italian fascism didn’t have the extreme fanatical antisemitism central to its agenda that you found in its northern counterparts,” he explained.

Mussolini was not considered antisemitic and some of the founding fathers of his party were Jews. As relations between Adolf Hitler’s Germany and Italy began to warm, Mussolini adopted anti-Jewish laws but refused to take harsh and violent measures against the Jewish minority in the country. Only when Mussolini was installed as a puppet leader of the Italian government occupied by Germany were Italian Jews led to death camps.

This could make Meloni’s party an easier pill for Israel to swallow, as well as other emerging far-right nationalist parties in Europe.

“The new far right says it is not fascist, but rather right-wing populists,” said Regev. “They can even express policies that are sympathetic to Israel.”

In Israel, since the assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin in 1995 and the collapse of peace negotiations with the Palestinians in recent years, the left wing has struggled to recuperate. The decade in which former Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu ruled saw Israelis lean farther to the right and take more populist positions on the role of the media, and the judicial and education systems. Laws fortifying the Jewish identity of the state also were promoted.

There are common denominators between the right wing that has risen in Italy and the dominant right-wing bloc in Israel. In Europe, the right is trying to stop what it perceives as the unwanted effects of globalization and retreat back to national borders. In Israel, the right has managed to entrench the feeling that peace with the Palestinians is impossible and the Jewish state should not cave to international pressure to make concessions on the matter.

In the past, the Israeli government boycotted far-right European parties, watching with alarm as their power grew. The disdain has been replaced with a growing acceptance of such parties.

“In the past 20 years, we have seen a shift in the European radical right from antisemitism and anti-Zionism to a more pro-Israel stance,” said Dr. Toby Greene, a lecturer in the Political Studies Department at Bar-Ilan University. “Part of it as an interest to disassociate themselves with any association or suspicion of antisemitism and a pro-Israel stance is a way of doing that. Opposition to large-scale Muslim immigration and anti-Islamic politics has also become very central for the radical right in Europe, and there is an interest to paint Muslims and anti-Zionist leftists as the ‘real’ antisemites.”

For parties such as Meloni’s, good relations with Israel could help brush off criticism.

For some Israeli politicians, the far-right in Europe is seen as fighting a common enemy, Islamist extremism. Gradually, this perception has sidelined the other, problematic sides of far-right politics in Europe, including the general attitude toward minorities.

Jews remain a minority in Europe, as do Muslims.

The elements which support anti-Muslim policies in Europe adopt similar messages to those used by antisemites decades ago.

Italy is not the only or first European country which is witnessing the emergence of far-right parties. Similar tendencies have been seen in Sweden, Hungary, Austria and France.

“Politics in Europe has changed,” said Greene. “The EU has had to become more tolerant of radical-right parties in government and Israel may also be pragmatic in this case as well.”

As Meloni emerged the victor in Italy’s election, statements from her past surfaced. For example, she has voiced support for Hizbullah in Lebanon, which regularly operates against Israel, and has condemned Israeli military action in Gaza.

But, in a recent interview ahead of the Italian elections with the Israel Hayom newspaper, Meloni said that “the existence of the State of Israel is vital” and that her party “will make every effort to invest in greater cooperation between our countries.”

Relations with Italy likely will continue to be strong and resilient.

“Many aspects of bilateral relations are quite stable and deeply embedded in institutions and not directly affected by changes in governments. That includes trade, cultural ties, tourism and often security and intelligence cooperation,” said Greene. “However a change in government can impact the tone, the nuance of policy and personal relations between political leaders and it can have an impact on how countries position themselves in international forums.”

Israel, which often finds itself outnumbered in such forums or frequently subject to condemnation, is looking for all the support it can get.

Meloni has sought to distance herself from accusations of antisemitism and express her support for Israel

In 2000, when the Austrian Freedom Party led by Jörg Haider was part of the coalition government, Israel immediately recalled its ambassador in protest. The Freedom Party was ultra-nationalist with clear antisemitic policies that Israel could not tolerate.

Israel does not see Meloni’s Brothers of Italy through the same lens.

“I do not expect to see such a political crisis with Italy as we saw then,” said Greene. “Meloni has sought to distance herself from accusations of antisemitism and express her support for Israel.”

In the end, the two countries have a vested interest in retaining good relations, each for their own reasons. Only extreme political circumstances will threaten that. However, Israeli officials will be diligent in monitoring possible changes in Italian policies.

“International relations are about realities,” said Regev, also a former senior Israeli diplomat. “If a government is formed democratically and recognized by the international community, there is no reason why Israel cannot work with that government.”