Trump turns on Meloni, his top European ally, as Italy suspends defense deal with Israel
On the same day, Meloni announced that Italy would suspend the automatic renewal of its defense cooperation agreement with Israel
US President Donald Trump on Tuesday turned on Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, until recently his closest ally in Europe, in a phone interview with the Italian daily Il Corriere della Sera. I thought she had courage, but I was wrong, Trump said, criticizing Meloni for refusing to involve Italy in the war against Iran and for calling his attacks on Pope Leo XIV unacceptable.
She just says Italy doesn’t want to get involved. Even though Italy gets its oil from there, even though the United States is very important for Italy. She thinks the United States should do the job for her, Trump complained. He said he had not spoken to Meloni in a long time and concluded: She’s very different from what I thought. She’s not the same person anymore. Just a month earlier, Trump had told the same newspaper that Meloni was a great leader.
On the same day, Meloni announced that Italy would suspend the automatic renewal of its defense cooperation agreement with Israel. In consideration of the current situation, the government has decided to suspend the automatic renewal of the defense agreement with Israel, she said during an event in Verona. The pact, signed in 2003 and renewed every five years, governed the exchange of military equipment, technological research and personnel training between the two countries. Defense Minister Guido Crosetto formalized the suspension in a letter to his Israeli counterpart, Italian media reported.
Israel downplayed the decision. Its Foreign Ministry said the deal was a memorandum of understanding from many years ago that never contained any substantive content and that it will not affect Israel’s security, according to the Times of Israel.
The suspension follows weeks of escalating tensions between Rome and Tel Aviv. On April 8, Israeli soldiers fired warning shots at a convoy of Italian UN peacekeepers from the UNIFIL mission in southern Lebanon; one round landed within a meter of an Italian soldier. Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani called Israeli attacks in Lebanon — which have killed more than 2,000 people since March 2 — unjustified and unacceptable, and Israel summoned the Italian ambassador in Tel Aviv in protest.
Italy also denied landing clearance last month at its Sigonella base in Sicily to a US military aircraft on a combat mission bound for the Middle East, AP reported. Meloni said existing agreements allow the use of Italian bases for logistical, not combat, activities.
On Trump’s attacks against the Pope, Meloni reiterated: The things that were said against the Holy See are unacceptable. I express full solidarity with Pope Leo. I would not feel comfortable in a society in which religious leaders are subordinate to political leaders.
Italy’s opposition called the suspension overdue. It comes with a grave and culpable delay, after more than 70,000 Palestinians have lost their lives, said Five Star Movement leader Giuseppe Conte. Democratic Party leader Elly Schlein demanded concrete measures to stop indiscriminate bombing.
