After France, Italy faces calls to recognise Palestine.Italy's foreign minister Antonio Tajani on Friday sparked a political row amid calls by the opposition for Rome to follow France in officially recognising a Palestinian state.Stressing "We are friends of Israel", Tajani said that Italy is not yet ready to recognise the state of Palestine after French president Emmanuel Macron announced that Paris would do so formally in September, following similar moves by Spain, Norway and Ireland. Tajani, who also serves as deputy premier in Giorgia Meloni's right-wing coalition, called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, saying: "We can no longer accept slaughter and famine". Addressing a meeting of the national council of his centre-right Forza Italia (FI) party, Tajani called on Hamas to free the Israeli hostages, adding: "We are interested in peace, not the victory of one over the other." "Italy is in favour of the two-peoples-two-states solution" - Tajani said - "but the recognition of the new Palestinian state must occur at the same time as their recognition of the state of Israel." Palestine, represented by the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), recognised Israel in 1993, as part of the landmark Oslo Accords. Tajani's comments provoked a swift reaction from the opposition, with Laura Boldrini of the centre-left Partito Democratico (PD) lashing out at the foreign minister's "disconcerting" remarks. "Someone should explain to Tajani that the Palestinian National Authority has already recognised Israel for some time", Boldrini said, adding: "This inaction, barely punctured by a few timid declarations, is unbearable and makes the Italian government, and all those governments that are doing nothing, complicit with Netanyahu and his criminal plan." Angelo Bonelli, MP for the Green and Left Alliance and co-spokesperson for Europa Verde, welcomed France's move but considers it "bad news that the Italian government isn't doing the same." "From May until today, a thousand people have been killed by the Israeli army because they were begging for food and water" - Bonelli wrote on X - "The Meloni government doesn't even want to revoke the military cooperation agreement between Italy and Israel. This is complicity." PD leader Elly Schlein told a conference on Friday that said she appreciates "that France also recognises the state of Palestine; we must get Italy to do the same." "I wanted to reiterate this,"Schlein added, "because I've read incomprehensible statements from Minister Tajani for whom the path [forward] is the one of two peoples and two states," but, she noted, "one state already exists, the other is occupied illegally." In a strongly-worded post on social media, Giuseppe Conte, leader of the Movimento 5 Stelle (M5S), railed against the Netanyahu government and Italian deputy premier Matteo Salvini's acceptance of the Italy-Israel award earlier this week. "Following Spain, France has also announced its recognition of Palestine in the face of genocide and mass deportation plans against Palestinians. The criminal Netanyahu, who is exterminating and starving an entire people, incredibly thunders: "This is a prize for terrorism." And Italy? While Salvini wins awards for his friendship with Israel, Meloni refuses to suspend the military memorandum of understanding with the criminal Israeli government, and today we read disturbing news in the press of new contacts between military leaders in Rome and Tel Aviv, of possible new military cooperation plans on which the government will have to provide clarification. What a national disgrace." Photo credit: Alexandros Michailidis / Shutterstock.com.

Italy's foreign minister Antonio Tajani on Friday sparked a political row amid calls by the opposition for Rome to follow France in officially recognising a Palestinian state. Stressing "We are friends of Israel", Tajani said that Italy is not yet ready to recognise the state of Palestine after French president Emmanuel Macron announced that Paris would do so formally in September, following similar moves by Spain, Norway and Ireland. Tajani, who also serves as deputy premier in Giorgia Meloni's right-wing coalition, called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, saying: "We can no longer accept slaughter and famine". Addressing a meeting of the national council of his centre-right Forza Italia (FI) party, Tajani called on Hamas to free the Israeli hostages, adding: "We are interested in peace, not the victory of one over the other." "Italy is in favour of the two-peoples-two-states solution" - - "but the recognition of the new Palestinian state must occur at the same time as their recognition of the state of Israel." Palestine, represented by the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), recognised Israel in 1993, as part of the landmark Oslo Accords. Tajani's comments provoked a swift reaction from the opposition, with Laura Boldrini of the centre-left Partito Democratico (PD) lashing out at the foreign minister's "disconcerting" remarks. "Someone should explain to Tajani that the Palestinian National Authority has already recognised Israel for some time", Boldrini said, adding: "This inaction, barely punctured by a few timid declarations, is unbearable and makes the Italian government, and all those governments that are doing nothing, complicit with Netanyahu and his criminal plan." Angelo Bonelli, MP for the Green and Left Alliance and co-spokesperson for Europa Verde, welcomed France's move but considers it "bad news that the Italian government isn't doing the same." "From May until today, a thousand people have been killed by the Israeli army because they were begging for food and water" - Bonelli wrote on X - "The Meloni government doesn't even want to revoke the military cooperation agreement between Italy and Israel. This is complicity." PD leader Elly Schlein told a conference on Friday that said she appreciates "that France also recognises the state of Palestine; we must get Italy to do the same." "I wanted to reiterate this,"Schlein added, "because I've read incomprehensible statements from Minister Tajani for whom the path [forward] is the one of two peoples and two states," but, she noted, "one state already exists, the other is occupied illegally." In a strongly-worded post on social media, Giuseppe Conte, leader of the Movimento 5 Stelle (M5S), railed against the Netanyahu government and Italian deputy premier earlier this week. "Following Spain, France has also announced its recognition of Palestine in the face of genocide and mass deportation plans against Palestinians. The criminal Netanyahu, who is exterminating and starving an entire people, incredibly thunders: "This is a prize for terrorism." And Italy? While Salvini wins awards for his friendship with Israel, Meloni refuses to suspend the military memorandum of understanding with the criminal Israeli government, and today we read disturbing news in the press of new contacts between military leaders in Rome and Tel Aviv, of possible new military cooperation plans on which the government will have to provide clarification. What a national disgrace." Photo credit: Alexandros Michailidis / Shutterstock.com.