By 
Giulia Villa, Europe Team Researcher
Omer Faruk Yildiz via Pexels/ May 11th, 2021
On October 1, Giorgia Meloni, Prime Minister, together with Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, Defense Minister Guido Crosetto and Roberto Cingolani, CEO of Leonardo SPA, were reported by the Global Movement to Gaza Italy to the International Criminal Court for active complicity in the genocide perpetrated by Israel against the Palestinians.
Following the numerous protests that have spread throughout Italy, with great popular participation, to support the action of the Global Sumud Flotilla, break the siege and in particular express their dissent with the actions of the Italian government, public opinion has opened a heated debate on the role of Italy in the Palestinian genocide. On October 1st, Giorgia Meloni, Prime Minister, together with Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, Defense Minister Guido Crosetto and Roberto Cingolani, CEO of Leonardo SPA, were reported by the Global Movement to Gaza Italy to the International Criminal Court (ICC) for active complicity in the genocide perpetrated by Israel against the Palestinians.
The reason at the center of the complaint is not only the support that the Meloni government has never failed to highlight towards the Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu, but in particular the sending of weapons that have been used to perpetuate the genocide and raze entire Palestinian cities to the ground. Despite the statements of the Italian Prime Minister, also on the occasion of an appearance on national television, according to which since October 7th, Italy would not have opened new concessions related to the arms trade between the two countries, without specifying that the agreements prior to that date continued to be implemented. According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), Italy was among the top three countries to export “major conventional arms” to Israel between 2020 and 2024, together with the United States and Germany, which provided about 99 percent.
Meloni appeared on state television RAI, after months in which she had not held a press conference avoiding journalists’ questions on the subject, declaring unacceptable and dangerous, in an “increasingly barbaric climate”, a unique case in the world which risks, according to the Prime Minister, fuelling such a context even more. Afterwards, Meloni launched an appeal to the sense of responsibility especially of those who are, according to her, fuelling the Italian squares, with the risk that things will get out of hand, defending the work of her government to resolve the humanitarian crisis.
The Global Movement to Gaza Italy is composed of individuals, associations, lawyers, university professors and numerous public figures who oppose the actions of the Italian government, and in practice have asked the ICC to test the possibility of opening a formal investigative proceeding regarding the involvement of these figures in supporting Israel. This decision is supported by the recent report from the United Nations Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, which through statements of Israeli officials and evidence on the ground came to the conclusion that Israel is in fact committing genocide in Gaza.
It is necessary to remember that only the final decisions of the ICC prosecutors will have legal value and that currently there is no decision confirming what the Italian government has been accused of; at the same time however, the action taken symbolises a clear concrete attempt of civil society in a political context, the Italian one, which too often has been seen absolved from its responsibilities. Surely such action takes place in a context in which many Italian citizens have decided to act against their own government to firmly distance themselves from its actions and underline that they are determined to act and not to remain silent like their government.
