Antonio Tajani answered the phone call while travelling to the Marche region. He is still irritated by what happened 24 hours earlier in the Senate and by the words of the Five Star Movement Senator, Alessandra Maiorino, who called him a “paid influencer” for Israel. He sees a common thread between that attack, the Kirk case in the United States, and the “censorship” of Francesca del Vecchio from La Stampa, who was forced to disembark from one of the Flotilla boats carrying aid to Gaza. “We all need to tone things down.”
Minister Tajani, the opposition says the government is soft on Israel. Yesterday Netanyahu said there would never be two States.
We support our “two peoples in two States” project. But eighty years of conflict cannot be resolved with proclamations. We are in favour of reunifying Palestine, of an Arab-led UN mission, and of committing Italian military forces to this. I have spoken with my Egyptian and Turkish colleagues so that there will be neither occupation nor evacuation from the Gaza Strip.
So why haven’t you yet said yes to recognizing the State of Palestine?
We are in favour, but conditions are needed that are currently lacking. On Thursday, Forza Italia voted in favour of the resolution in the Strasbourg Parliament. Yesterday we voted on a preliminary statement that we will confirm on the 22nd in a document that will be submitted to the United Nations by the working group led by France and Saudi Arabia. We have worked with Indonesia on the path to “security” for Palestine, and we want to build it with concrete actions.
The opposition says you should do as Spain did. Spain decided to impose an embargo on Israel.
Being aggressive for domestic political purposes does not solve any problems. We criticize Israel, but we keep the dialogue open: by doing so, we have saved many people. We are the country that, together with Qatar, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey, has taken in the largest number of wounded people from Gaza. We allowed World Food Programme trucks into the Strip when no one else could get any through. Is that not enough compared to the deaths caused by the bombings? For me, every human life is worth that effort.
You are accused of not stopping the arms trade with Israel.
That is nonsense. We have not sold any more weapons to Israel since October 7, 2023. Here, weapons are being confused with mechanical or chemical components. The Conte government sold more weapons to Israel than this government has.
Ursula von der Leyen says she has a package of sanctions ready for Israel, particularly for the most extremist Ministers. Will you support it?
We are willing to discuss it, let us see what proposal is made to us.
Don’t you think Netanyahu acts with such confidence because he knows he has US backing? Where is Europe?
I do not think the United States supported the Israeli attack on Doha, quite the contrary. But Europe certainly needs to show itself to be stronger and more united, both on Gaza and on Ukraine.
President Trump keeps saying his patience with Putin is running out, but nothing happens.
The problem in this case was Putin, who did not live up to expectations at the Summit in Alaska. Putin is mocking Trump; he promised him things he did not do.
After Russia violated Polish airspace yesterday, NATO decided to launch a mission on the eastern flank of the European border. Will Italy be part of it?
It is a strengthening of the air defence system that already intervened last night to protect Polish airspace. We will provide our contribution. We do not want to increase pressure on Putin with military means, but to show Russia that we will defend our allies without hesitation. They should not get it into their heads that they can embark on new military adventures.
Don’t you think it is even more necessary now to accelerate the increase in military spending?
We have just applied for the €15 billion European “Safe” loan, and we have reached 2 percent of GDP in defence spending.
However, there is no trace of this reclassification in any public document. What needs to happen for Putin to sit down at the negotiating table?
We need to block the cash flows that enable him to support an army of 1.5 million people, where each soldier earns three times as much as a Russian worker. This is the reason why we are in favour of new European sanctions against Russia.
In short, the firmness that we lack towards Israel.
There has been an attack on Poland, and the security of all NATO countries is at stake. Russia invaded Ukraine, Israel reacted disproportionately to what happened on October 7. We cannot put everything on the same level.
What do you think of the Flotilla’s journey to Gaza?
It is a risky initiative. We have offered to bring humanitarian aid through the government’s authorized corridors. If the Flotilla wants to go on its own, let them do so. But what happened to your colleague Francesca Del Vecchio shows that this is a political initiative. I was struck by that fact: by making her disembark from one of those ships, she suffered an act of censorship. I have been a journalist all my life and I am opposed to any attack on press freedom, wherever it comes from.
What is your opinion on the murder of Charlie Kirk in the United States?
In a democracy, everyone must be guaranteed the freedom to say what they want. If, on the other hand, you point the finger at an opponent, if language becomes violent and incites people, sooner or later some insane mind will do what happened to Kirk.
Some argue that the climate of hatred affecting the United States has also been fuelled by President Trump.
We all need to tone things down. The words of those with political responsibility carry more weight with the public than others. This is the reason why I reacted to Senator Maiorino’s statements. Calling me a “paid influencer” damages Italy’s image above all else.
You asked former Prime Minister Conte to distance himself, but he did not. Are you disappointed?
Giuseppe Conte’s silence is complicit. He was Prime Minister twice, I would have expected a different behaviour.
