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Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has announced that Italy will not renew its five-year defense agreement with Israel. Meloni stated the decision was made "in view of the current situation," though she did not provide specific details. The move follows a sharp decline in relations between Rome and Tel Aviv, exacerbated last week when Italian UN peacekeepers in Lebanon faced warning shots from Israeli forces, prompting Italy to summon the Israeli ambassador.
On Monday, Israel in turn summoned Italy's ambassador to protest comments by Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, who had condemned Israel's "unacceptable attacks" on civilians in Lebanon.
Defence ministry officials said they were still examining how the government's position would translate into concrete legal and practical consequences on the framework of Italian cooperation with Israel.
Italy is the third-biggest arms exporter to Israel, according to figures from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (Sipri). But that still only accounts for 1.3% of Israeli arms imports between 2021-2025. The US and Germany are the top exporters.
Several European countries paused or restricted arms exports with Israel during its military action in Gaza.
Yet Meloni's right-wing coalition government has remained one of Israel's closest allies in Europe, refusing to join the growing number of countries recognising Palestinian statehood.
Since the result of the referendum that was held in March, she has described the US-Israeli war with Iran as part of a growing and dangerous trend of interventions "outside the scope of international law".
On Monday, she issued a rare criticism of Donald Trump, describing the US president's disparaging comments about Pope Leo XIV as "unacceptable". She later added that the pontiff had her "solidarity".
That led to a swift rebuke from Trump, who told Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera that he was "shocked at her".
At one point, Trump's evident sympathy for Meloni appeared to have earned her special recognition as a potential privileged interlocutor among EU countries, and was touted by her supporters as an asset.
But now, with Trump becoming an increasingly unpopular figure, that association risks being damaging. In January, a survey showed 63% of the Italian electorate holds a negative opinion of the US.
