Does Giorgia Meloni Support Israel?

Maya Mizrachi Feb 20, 2025 Updated Jul 28, 2026 5 min read

Short answer: As of July 2026, Giorgia Meloni's relationship with Israel has shifted from close ally to open critic. She backed Israel unconditionally right after October 7, 2023 (traveling to Israel, visiting Rome's synagogue, lighting Palazzo Chigi with the Israeli flag), but by late 2025 and into 2026 she publicly said Israel had "crossed the line" in Gaza, told the UN General Assembly Italy would back some EU sanctions, and in April 2026 suspended Italy's automatic renewal of its bilateral defense agreement with Israel. She still rejects putting "all the responsibility" on Israel and blames Hamas for starting the war, but she is no longer a reliable pro-Israel voice in Europe.

What Giorgia Meloni has actually said and done

March 10, 2023: Meloni hosts Prime Minister Netanyahu in Rome, and the two governments agree to deepen cooperation on gas, energy, water, and cyber security, reflecting a warm Italy-Israel relationship early in her term, according to the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
October 10, 2023: Three days after the Hamas attack, Meloni visits Rome's Great Synagogue and meets Chief Rabbi Riccardo Di Segni, pledges added security for Italy's Jewish community, and Italy lights Palazzo Chigi with the Israeli flag. She also co-signs a joint statement with the leaders of the US, UK, France, and Germany pledging "steadfast and united support" for Israel, as reported by Middle East Monitor.
October 21, 2023: Meloni travels to Israel and meets Netanyahu in Tel Aviv, telling him "I felt it was very important to come personally to bring the solidarity of the Italian government and the Italian people." She voices unconditional condemnation of the October 7 attack and unqualified support for Israel's right to defend itself, joining a wave of European leaders, including Germany's Olaf Scholz, the UK's Rishi Sunak, and EU officials Ursula von der Leyen and Roberta Metsola, who visited Israel in the weeks after the attack, according to EJP and the EU Reporter.
August 27, 2025: At an event in Rimini, Meloni says Israel's military operations in Gaza have "gone beyond the principle of proportionality" and caused "too many innocent victims," an early public break from her post-October 7 stance, while reiterating that Italy backed Israel's right to self-defense after October 7. Reported by the Times of Israel and the Washington Post.
September 24, 2025: At the UN General Assembly, Meloni says Israel's initial response was "legitimate" but that it has since "crossed that line, with a large-scale war that involves the Palestinian civilian population," and states Italy will back some EU sanctions on Israel, including a possible suspension of the EU-Israel trade agreement. She also says Italy will "not join those who place all the responsibility for what is happening in Gaza on Israel," noting that Hamas started the war, according to the Times of Israel and Factually.
April 14, 2026: On the sidelines of an event in Verona, Meloni announces that Italy's government has decided to suspend the automatic renewal of its 2006 bilateral defense cooperation agreement with Israel, citing "the current situation" after Italy accused Israeli forces of firing warning shots at an Italian UN peacekeeping convoy in Lebanon, per the Times of Israel and Al Jazeera.
Late May 2026: Relations deteriorate further after Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir posts a video, released around May 20, 2026, showing him taunting bound and detained Gaza flotilla activists, several of them Italian citizens, kneeling at an Ashdod port facility. Meloni and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani condemn the episode in a joint statement, calling it "unacceptable" and demanding an apology for treatment that violated the activists' human dignity. Italy summons the Israeli ambassador and pushes for EU sanctions against Ben Gvir specifically, though the Times of Israel reports the broader relationship is still seen by analysts as repairable.

Why her position shifted

Meloni has no personal Jewish-identity connection; she is a Catholic Italian nationalist and leader of the Brothers of Italy party. Her early presidency made her one of Europe's most outspokenly pro-Israel leaders: she traveled to Israel within two weeks of October 7, 2023, alongside a string of other Western and EU leaders, condemned Hamas unequivocally, and stepped up protection for Italy's Jewish community. Domestic and coalition politics appear to have driven her later shift. Polling cited by the Times of Israel put Palestinian-statehood support among Italians at roughly 88%, tens of thousands protested Gaza policy in Italian cities, and a younger "Gaza generation" of voters cooled on the US-Israel alignment, especially after the US-Israel war with Iran. Analysts also point to falling Italian approval of Donald Trump, which dropped from 42% in January 2025 to 12% in April 2026, as undermining the Netanyahu-Meloni alignment, along with friction from incidents affecting Christian sites and practices and repeated interceptions of Italian citizens on Gaza flotillas. Even as she criticizes specific Israeli conduct and moves toward EU sanctions, she has consistently refused to lay "all the responsibility" for the war on Israel and affirms that Hamas started it, so her position is better described as an estranged, conditional critic than as anti-Israel.

The bottom line

Giorgia Meloni does not currently qualify as a reliable Israel supporter. She began her tenure as one of Europe's staunchest pro-Israel leaders after October 7, 2023, but by 2025 and 2026 she is publicly saying Israel "crossed the line" in Gaza, backing partial EU sanctions, and has suspended Italy's bilateral defense agreement with Israel. She still resists blaming Israel entirely and blames Hamas for starting the war, which makes her stance a genuine mid-course shift rather than a clean yes-or-no answer.

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Last updated July 2026. We update these profiles as the record changes.