Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi likes to cast himself as an international statesman, touting his warm personal ties with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and former US president George W. Bush and his efforts to raise Italy’s profile on the world stage.
Less noticed is his friendship with Israel, reversing a decades-long pro-Arab tilt by Italian governments and making Italy perhaps the Jewish state’s best friend in Europe.
It’s a special relationship that has yielded recognition: When Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu set out yesterday on his first official visit to Europe since his election in March, Italy was to be his first stop before he heads to France.
PHOTO: REUTERS
For Israel the stance of Berlusconi’s Italy offers a hospitable window into the EU — where Israeli governments of the right, as Netanyahu’s, have historically found little cheer. Berlusconi, for his part, gains a better defined international profile and perhaps some points in the US, which has been far more understanding of Israel than most European nations over the years.
Last month, hardline Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, who has raised diplomatic eyebrows by his anti-Arab statements, made Rome his first stop for his European tour as well.
The billionaire premier, notorious for his headline-making gaffes, was honored by a Jewish group a few years ago with its “distinguished statesman award,” despite protests from three Nobel Prize winners.
Berlusconi’s pro-Israel stance stems in part from his staunch pro-Americanism. It may also be a way to legitimize political allies who come from neo-fascist backgrounds, using Israel as a sign of their transformation into mainstream conservatism.
The Italian leader has backed pro-Israel rallies and has supported Israel’s right to defend itself during its recent armed conflict with Hamas in Gaza — while other European leaders tended to view the hundreds of fatalities Israel caused in its retaliation for rocket attacks as disproportional.
The Netanyahu trip comes less than two weeks after the Israeli leader finally gave qualified endorsement to the concept of a Palestinian state. He will likely be sounding out Berlusconi and French President Nicolas Sarkozy to see if they are on board with the caveats he placed on such a state, drawing sharp Palestinian criticism, such as the demand that it be demilitarized and recognize Israel as a “Jewish state.”
In his June 14 speech Netanyahu also said the Palestinians had to give up any notion of refugees who left what is now Israel — or their millions of descendants — resettling in their former homes.
He will be meeting tomorrow in Paris with US President Barack Obama’s special Middle East peace envoy, former senator George Mitchell.
Sandro De Bernardin, a Foreign Ministry official and former Italian ambassador to Israel, said the fact that Netanyahu is beginning his European tour in Rome attests to the good relations between the two countries.
“It is meaningful that Netanyahu begins his European tour in Italy,” he said. “It underlines that the Israeli government looks at the role that Italy can have in a special way and also [underlines] the quality and substance of our bilateral relations.”
Israeli media gave extensive and favorable coverage of Italy’s decision to join the US, Israel and a few other EU countries in boycotting a UN conference on racism in Geneva in April that was marred by anti-Semitic rhetoric.
“He fully supports Israel’s security requirements, he supports Israel’s eventual entry into the EU as a full member — he said so during a visit here,” Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said of Berlusconi.
‘GRAVE CONCERN’: A critic of the government died immediately following his complaints of torture at the hands of security forces, a human rights group said Students on Friday clashed with police in Bangladesh’s capital, Dhaka, as anger mounted at the death of a writer and government critic in a high-security jail. At least 18 police and an unknown number of protesters were injured in the clashes, authorities and witnesses said, amid international demands for an independent investigation into the death of Mushtaq Ahmed. An Agence France-Presse correspondent witnessed police using batons and firing tear gas at students who staged a torchlight march calling for “justice” near the University of Dhaka. At least six students who allegedly attacked security forces with torches were detained, police said. More protests were planned
LEGAL ORDEAL: The heavy caseload involving 47 defendants and the vagaries of a Beijing-imposed security law made it difficult for the court to rule on bail requests Dozens of Hong Kong democracy advocates charged with subversion yesterday returned to court to complete a marathon bail hearing that was adjourned overnight when four defendants were rushed to hospital after hours of legal wrangling. Police on Sunday arrested 47 of the territory’s best-known dissidents for “conspiracy to commit subversion” in the broadest use yet of a sweeping National Security Law that Beijing imposed on the territory last year. The defendants represent a broad cross-section of Hong Kong’s opposition, from veteran former pro-democracy lawmakers to academics, lawyers, social workers and youth advocates. Hundreds of supporters gathered outside a courthouse on Monday for the
China, under growing global pressure over its treatment of Uighurs in Xinjiang, is mounting an unprecedented and aggressive campaign to push back, including explicit attacks on women who have made claims of abuse. As allegations of human rights violations in Xinjiang mount, with a growing number of Western lawmakers accusing China of genocide, Beijing is focusing on discrediting the female Uighur witnesses behind reports of abuse. Chinese officials have named women, disclosed medical data and information on their fertility, and accused some of having affairs and one of having a sexually transmitted disease. Officials said that the information was evidence of bad character,
The plane laden with vaccines had just rolled to a stop at Santiago’s airport in late January and Chilean President Sebastian Pinera was beaming. “Today is a day of joy, emotion and hope,” he said. The source of that hope: China — a country that Chile and dozens of other nations are depending on to help rescue them from the COVID-19 pandemic. China’s vaccine diplomacy campaign has been a surprising success: It has pledged about 500 million doses of its vaccine to more than 45 countries, according to a country-by-country tally by The Associated Press (AP). With just four of China’s many
RSS