Notes from Limmud 2015

Italy and Israel, a change of narrative

Rossella Tercatin

[Standard disclaimer: All views not in square brackets are those of the speaker, not myself. Accuracy of transcription is not guaranteed.]

The speaker is a journalist at a Jewish newpaper the majority of the readership of which is non-Jewish. This is partly because of the small size of the Italian community, but also because there is a significantly philo-Semitic part of the population.

Italy has a phenomenon which is unique in the European landscape. In 2012, the Democratic Party, the main centre-left party was having primaries, and the secretary of the party was being challenged by Matteo Renzi, who was trying to propose a new way of thinking about what the centre-left should be.

In a live debate on TV, the interviewer asked what they think about the so-called Arab Spring. By then these were already turning into Arab Winters all over the Middle East. Luigi Bersani answered: the basic issue remains the Israeli-Palestinian conflict; without a positive development there, it will be impossible to resolve anything else: the traditional left answer. A few days later the UN was to vote on the recognition of Palestine as an observing member, and Bersani was pushing for voting yes,

Then Renzi said he disagreed on the centrality of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The key issue was Iran, and [lacuna]. He supported the two state solution, and this should reached by dialogue. We should do as the US and Germany and not vote yet [on Palestinian statehood].

So, a new approach for the left-wing party. Of course, foreign policy was not the central issue by a long way; there were pressing issues in the country involving the financial crisis &c, but even so.

Renzi lost the primaries; Bersani lost the elections. If there were elections trhat the centre-left was supposed to win, it was those elections. Berlusconi had led the country to the brink of bankruptcy, and Monti had come to power.

A year later, though, in February 2014, Renzi won new primaries, and a few months later became Prime Minister. Again, foreign policy was not the highest priority, but there were a few places where it came to the fore.

On February the twenty-seventh, the parliament was set to vote on non-binding resolutions concerning the recognition of Palestinian statehood. Many countries, including the UK, would vote yes on the issue. In Italy it was a completely different story, but no one in the English-speaking world picked it up, which the speaker found frustrating.

A few days beforehand, the Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni replied to a letter from the Federation of Italy Israel Associations. He said all the initiatives on both sides which can deteriorate the relations between the two sides must be discouraged. The Italian government must maintain a balanced approach. There must be steps taken to maximise the possibilities of peace negotiations.

The radical left and left had pushed for a vote, with motions like those of most European countries. But the Democratic Party was trying to find their own way. They supported the Palestinian cause and wanted to give an important signal that Italy is on their side, but this was the wrong time to do it, as it was not taking inot account Isael's position.

The vote was postponed three times, hoping by doing such to kill it, particularly until after the elections in Israel. (This was soon after the Hypercacher massacre, following which, by the way, security for Jewish institutions has been taken very seriously by the government: there is a rising tide of antisemitism today, but with the exception of one stabbing incident in front of a kosher pizzeria in Milan, no violence.) Then they presented a new motion, not that the Italian government recognises a State of Palestine, but that it encourages the goal of the constitution of the Palestinian state coexisting with Israel with peace, security and mutual recognition and the [lacuna]

The Israeli embassy in Italy praised this motion.

The current ambassador Naor Gilon, was apppointed by Lieberman. But the embassy said Go italy, this is what we expect from the international community.

Maybe the Italian people didn't recognise what had happened, and maybe that was a good thing.

Last summer, Renzi went on a state visit to Israel. He spoke at the Knesset, and the speaker felt: this is what she wanted to hear from her PM. He spoke about how [lacuna], and the close historical ties between the two countries because there were many Italian Jews going to fight for Israel before and during the Second World War.

A prominent Italian Jew, Enzo Sereni, in the 20s, went to [pre-State] Israel and started a kibbutz, and knew Ben Gurion, then at the start of the Second World War he returned to free Italy from fascism, and died in the struggle.

[Renzi:] "The existence of the State of Israel is not a gracious concession of the international community following the Shoah. The existence of Israel predates by centuries any international agreement; and exists despite the Shoah...

"It is clear that you don't only have the right to exist, you have the duty to exist, the duty to resist, the duty to pass on to your children and to my children...."

A few weeks ago Israel was to host the European short-course swimming championships 2015. But in the wake of the attacks in Israel, Hungary said the event should not be held in Israel, but Hungary. The one country that worked really hard to ensure the championships were held in Israel, as they were, was Italy, through Paolo Barelli, a former swimmer, who had taken part in the Munich Olympics in 1972, a [lacuna]

Even Renzi himself intervened on Israel's behalf.

La Stampa explained that Hungary was trying to host a prominent sporting event themselves despite what was happening there, to get back at Renzi who had said Hungary was one of the greatest threats to the EU and European way of life—and to do this at the expense of Israel.

This is extremely new in Italy. Italy has a tradition of being very close to Arab countries, because of their dependence on foreign oil, but also their history: Italy was a frontier between the western world and the communist world. The communist party was always strong there, though they never won an election due to the other parties coming together to prevent them from governing. So they felt the pressure of the Soviet Union to comply with their foreign policy. Even Jewish members of the communist party denounced Zionism and Israel. And the right-wing descendants of the Fascist party weren't exactly Israel's friends either. So it was an important development in Italian politics.

Italy was so close to the Arab cause that it is almost universally admitted that the authorities had struck an agreement in the seventies that the Palestinian terror organisations could use Italy as a logistical base so long as they would not commit violent actions on Italian soil—with an exception: if the target was related to Israel or Zionism, they could.

On Shemini Atseret in 1982, a Palestinian commando began to throw grenades at a crowd coming to synagogue for the blessing of children; a two year old was killed and forty people injured, some quite seriously.

This was not long after the Sabra and Shatila massacres in Lebanon; it was the worst moment of atmosphere towards Israel and towards Jews. The reaction of the press was terrible: "David, you have to justify yourself." The unions a few days beforehand had had a huge rally then put a coffin in front of the synagogue. This was traumatic for the Jews of Italy, who had traditionally been left wing.

This was the atmosphere towards Jews in Italy only a generation beforehand. This unofficial agreement [lacuna]. In 2008 a former president, Francesco Cossiga gave an interview to a Yediot [Acharonot] journalist and admitted this agreement. "We basically sold [out] Italian Jews."

It wasn't always like this: before the Six Day War, Italy was a lot closer to Israel.

This change of narrative didn't just take place in the centre left. It started with Silvio Berlusconi. He brought a big change in Italy. He was close to George Bush, and was in power from 2001–2006. He supported the war in Iraq, but also had a genuine sympathy towards Israel (even though he would crack inappropriate jokes about the Holocaust and say offensive things at any level). The speaker thinks he wanted to be genuine friend of Israel but just didn't know how.

Nowadays he is condemning the attack in Israel and how the media put the attackers and victims on the same level. Under his government, things between Italy and Israel began to change. If Berlusconi had one talent, it was in shaping public opinion. Obviously, changing public attitudes towards Israel wasn't the number one item on his agenda, but he might have had an effect.

What Italian Jews perceive about what's happening politically in Italy regarding Israel: The Institute of Jewish Policy Research carried out a survey, published at start of 2015, but featuring data from 2013 or so.

43% of respondents said they perceived antisemitism from someone with left-wing views; 32% from someone with right-wing views; 17% from Muslim extremists. This reflects perception, not reality.

Another survey asked respondents: What is the political area which offers better guarantees for Israel? 62% said centre-right or right; 15% centre-left, [left] or centre.

To "Which political area offers better guarantees for Jews?", 40% said right or centre-right; 22% centre, centre-left or left.

The role of Berlusconi vis-a-vis Israel is controversial among Italian Jews. They feel we don't need a friend like him! There was one time he went to the Holocaust Memorial in Milan, and said until Mussolini promulgated the racial laws, he was a good leader. (He wasn't; he was a bloody dictator.) He also said Italy was forced to persecute Jews by Germany, i.e. absolving Italian responsibility.

On the other hand, Many Italian Jews nowadays are right-wing and do support Berlusconi's project, and they don't care about his politics except that he is a staunch supporter of Israel, and we have enough enemies, so why don't we support him?

But Berlusconi was also a close friend with Gaddafi. People say this was a political thing because of oil. But it went far beyond that: he allowed Gaddafi to plant his tent in the centre of Rome, and Berlusconi kissed him. Very embarrasing; also hurtful for Italian Jews who had fled from Libya and from Gaddafi.

This is interesting because things may change because it looks like Israel might be about to become an exporter of gas; this might change countries attitudes towards it. There is also Israeli desalination technology; and a lot of people are genuinely interested in learning more about Israel.

But not everything is rosy; a lot of people are still very biased against Israel.

It will be interesting to see how the clash between the old-school and new-school left-wing will play out in the next years: the old-school left-wing people are challenging Renzi within his own party (though not over this issue specifically).

A few words about the Italian Jewish community:

Italian Jews are very Zionist. In the general community there are left-wing and right-wing Zionist, but very few not calling themselves Zionist. But like everywhere, the debate is becoming more and more polarised.

Many people are making aliyah. It's a growing phenomenon, therefore people have relatives in Israel. Although the community is small, it's an important voice within the Italian public discourse.

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