Italy is suspending its defence agreement with Israel. The reason? Concerns over Israel’s conduct in the Middle East conflict— especially in Lebanon.
Léa Marchal
Production: By Europod, in co-production with Sphera Network.
EUobserver is proud to have an editorial partnership with Europod to co-publish the podcast series “Briefed” hosted by Léa Marchal. The podcast is available on all major platforms.
Find the full transcript below:
Italy is suspending its defence agreement with Israel.
The reason? Concerns over Israel’s conduct in the Middle East conflict—especially in Lebanon.
Across Europe, more and more voices are calling for stronger measures against Israel.
A citizen-led initiative has now gathered over one million signatures, calling for the suspension of the EU–Israel Association Agreement.
So, is the European Union finally ready to take tougher action against Israel?
On Wednesday (8 April), just hours after a ceasefire was announced in the Middle East, Lebanon was hit by a massive wave of Israeli strikes. The offensive left at least 350 people dead and more than a thousand injured.
Since early March, Israeli attacks have killed more than 2,000 people, according to Lebanese authorities.
And in this case, the Lebanese government wasn’t asking for any of this. That’s why many in the European Union believe things have gone too far.
But what are Europeans actually ready to do?
There’s already been a noticeable shift in tone. In recent months, when Israel was violating international law in Gaza, European reactions often came late.
This time, Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni decided to suspend her country’s defence agreement with Israel, even though she wasn’t really required to do so.
According to a diplomatic source cited by Italian news agencies, it had simply become politically difficult to maintain the agreement.
Because the Italian opposition had already been calling for months not to renew it.
But what may have tipped the balance is an incident last week, when Israel targeted a convoy of Italian UN peacekeepers in Lebanon. No one was injured, but a vehicle was damaged.
Elsewhere in Europe, leaders are also starting to speak out more forcefully.
German chancellor Friedrich Merz described the situation in southern Lebanon as “alarming.”
On Tuesday (14 April) , 15 EU countries — along with the United Kingdom and Norway — condemned the large-scale Israeli strikes carried out on 8 April. They also called for Lebanon to be included in regional de-escalation efforts.
But will the EU walk the talk?
For the EU, action is always more sensitive diplomatically.
As we discussed in previous episodes, the EU does have one key tool it could use quickly: suspending the EU–Israel Association Agreement.
Importantly, this decision can be made by a qualified majority of member states—not unanimity.
So where does that process stand?
The European Commission already put forward a proposal to suspend the agreement back in September. But EU countries haven’t acted on it yet.
In practice, when there’s no clear majority among member states, the issue simply doesn’t get scheduled for a vote.
But pressure is building now.
A European Citizens’ Initiative calling for the suspension of the agreement has just crossed the one-million-signature threshold.
That now obliges the European Commission to formally examine the issue and respond.
That said, the response is likely to be limited.
Why?
Because the commission has already done its part by putting a proposal on the table. The decision now lies with EU member states.
Those states are set to meet on Tuesday (21 April), in Luxembourg, where foreign ministers will discuss the situation in the Middle East—among other topics.
And during that meeting, the association agreement is likely to come up.
The big question now is whether there’s enough political will to take a tougher stance on Israel.
