Empty Outrage Over Israel
Italian leaders have condemned the treatment of the Flotilla activists. But Rome is still blocking the measures that would impose a real cost on Israel. A commentary by Nathalie Tocci
Italian President Sergio Mattarella has condemned the uncivilised treatment inflicted on the Flotilla activists, who were illegally stopped in international waters and deported to Israel — treatment he rightly described as “base” on the part of the Israeli government.
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni echoed the president, calling what happened “unacceptable”. But it is now up to the Italian government to respond concretely to this unacceptability. So far, there is still no sign of any concrete response, only gestures for show.
Let us start with the facts. At European level, Italy opposes any measure against Israel that would entail an economic cost — and therefore a political impact — and that would concern the State of Israel as a whole, rather than individual Israeli citizens.
After Viktor Orbán’s exit in Hungary, where he had imposed a veto, Italy agreed to EU sanctions against a number of violent Israeli settlers. This was a symbolic measure, certainly correct, but largely useless and partly misleading.
It was useless because the individuals concerned have no economic interests or ties with Europe: sanctioning them produces no real effect. It was misleading because targeting violent settlers underlines an artificial distinction, separating the settlers from the State of Israel.
Settlements are now an integral part of Israeli society and institutions, starting with the army. And settler violence against Palestinian civilians is no longer merely tolerated, but actively supported by the Israeli government and army.
Until the latest disgraceful episode involving the treatment of the Flotilla protesters, Italy had been hesitating over the next step along the same path: sanctioning extremist ministers in the Israeli government.
After the latest outrage by the National security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, towards the protesters, Italian foreign minister Antonio Tajani said he was in favour of individual European sanctions against him. This is a step forward, but it remains flawed and inconsistent.
It is flawed because, once again, it tends to stress a non-existent distinction between the minister and the government — and therefore the state — he represents.
The problem is not that Ben-Gvir posted that disgusting video. It is that what the video shows is what the State of Israel systematically does to international activists — and in any case it is little compared with what Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank have endured for decades.
It is inconsistent because the Italian government knows full well that European sanctions, including individual sanctions, require unanimity. And even without Orbán, other rightwing governments in Europe — starting with the Czech Republic — have already said they would oppose sanctions against Israeli ministers.
The crucial point, however, is not these individual measures, symbolically important but institutionally difficult — because they require unanimity — and economically, and therefore politically, irrelevant.
The crucial point is that Italy, together with Germany and a few others, continues to oppose the suspension of the economic benefits granted to Israel under the EU-Israel Association Agreement.
Removing these benefits would not amount to a sanction, but would fall within European trade policy. That is why suspending them would not require unanimity, only a qualified majority of member states.
A majority of European countries now supports suspending the agreement, but that majority remains insufficient as long as both Italy and Germany oppose it, given the demographic weight of the two countries.
Even more disconcerting is that Italy has actively discouraged the European Commission from putting before the Council a proposal to ban EU trade with Israeli settlements. Unlike individual sanctions, both the suspension of trade preferences and a ban on trade with illegal settlements would have a significant impact.
Conservative estimates put the figure at several hundred million euros, but in all likelihood the real economic impact would be much higher. A measure of that scale against a country for which the EU is the leading trading partner would have a considerable political impact.
It is tragic that, without the actions of the Flotilla, the crimes Israel commits every day in the occupied Palestinian territories, in Lebanon and through its illegal attack on Iran would not have returned to the centre of public debate.
But it is good that the issue has returned there. It will be better still if the Italian government’s verbal declarations that all this is unacceptable finally begin to be followed by concrete action rather than window-dressing.
It has now become unacceptable that this is not happening.
A previous version of this article was published by the Italian daily La Stampa
IEP@BU does not express opinions of its own. The opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors. Any errors or omissions are the responsibility of the authors.
