Opposition demand explanation from Meloni government as Salvini recognised by Israel for “courageous” positions.
Italian deputy prime minister Matteo Salvini received the Italy-Israel Award at the chamber of deputies in Rome on Tuesday, sparking an outcry from opposition centre-left parties.
Salvini, leader of the right-wing Lega party and transport minister, was presented with the award by a network of organisations including the Milton Friedman Institute, the Union of Italy-Israel Associations, Maccabi World Union, Israel’s Defend & Security Forum, and the Alliance for Israel.
The associations recognised Salvini as “Israel’s best friend in Italy”, while Israel’s ambassador in Rome, Jonathan Peled, praised the deputy premier for having had “the courage to publicly take courageous and often disruptive positions”.
“If anyone deserves recognition for his efforts to strengthen the strategic bond between Italy and Israel, it is Matteo Salvini” – Peled said during the award ceremony – “Today, more than ever, there is a particular need for it. After the 7 October 7 massacre, Salvini and the Lega have always shown us deep support and solidarity. During these painful months, Matteo has always opened the doors of his ministry to us.”
During a trip to Israel in February, Salvini met with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who faces an international arrest warrant for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Salvini said he was “honoured” by the award – which came the morning after Israeli tanks opened fire on a refugee camp in the Gaza Strip – admitting that the recognition was “awkward”.
“A ceasefire can be reached tomorrow morning,” Salvini said. “How? By returning the hostages. The choice is Hamas’s alone,” the minister said, adding that it is unacceptable and “crazy” to equate “a democratic entity with a terrorist organisation.”
The deputy prime minister’s comments on the truce clash with the Italian government’s decision to sign, along with 27 other countries, a statement on the Occupied Palestinian Territories, calling for an immediate end to the war in Gaza.
The joint statement condemns Netanyahu’s government for the “the inhumane killing of civilians, including children” and Israel’s “unacceptable” refusal to “provide essential humanitarian assistance” to the people in Gaza.
Backlash
Shortly the award ceremony, protests erupted from the centre-left Partito Democratico (PD) and Movimento 5 Stelle (M5S) and the Green and Left Alliance (AVS).
The award also drew criticism from the parliamentary intergroup for Peace between Israel and Palestine, coordinated by M5S politician Stefania Ascari.
“Matteo Salvini did not hesitate to shake the bloody hand of Benjamin Netanyahu, a figure held responsible for war crimes and grave abuses against the civilian population in the Gaza Strip and the occupied territories,” a statement from the group read. “Receiving an award in this context is not a merit, but a disgrace. And it is extremely serious that this should happen in a room of the chamber of deputies, an institutional body that represents all Italians.”
Arturo Scotto (PD) also slammed the award. “In this place where law should prevail over arrogance, reason over the madness of weapons, the cohesion of a new peaceful coexistence over the logic of the geopolitics of chaos, today the chamber was violated” – Scotto said – “What does Italy intend to do in the face of the daily horror in Gaza?”
“We would like to know why Israel isn’t being severely sanctioned, and we would also like to know about Salvini’s presence at the Italy-Israel Award” – said M5S parliamentary group leader Riccardo Ricciardi – “We have people who commit unbearable crimes every day and starve children. Yet, the deputy prime minister goes to receive awards from them”.
In a post on X, Angelo Bonelli, spokesperson for Europa Verde, blasted the “obscene” award ceremony, describing it as “an insult to truth, human rights, and civil conscience”.
