Italy is likely to get its first far-Right leader since Mussolini. What does that mean for Jews?

Giorgia Meloni is an anti-immigration Christian conservative with strong roots in neo-fascism but Italian Jewish leaders are not worried.

Meloni’s right-wing coalition is on course to control a majority of seats in Italy’s parliament, after Sunday’s general election, making her the favourite to become Italy’s first female prime minister – and its first far-Right prime minister of the post-war era.

Meloni grew up as a neo-fascist, an adolescent activist in the Movimento Sociale Italiano (Italian Social Movement).

More recently, she successfully rebranded her Brothers of Italy party as the country’s dominant conservative force, without fully expunging its post-fascist roots. She still uses Mussolini’s slogan, “God, homeland, family” , and is outspoken in her opposition to immigration, Islam, European integration, “woke ideologies” and what she describes as “LGBT lobbies”. Meloni strenuously defended Hungary’s Viktor Orban in his tussles with Brussels over democracy and the rule of law.

What does this new Italian Right mean for Jews and Israel?

In recent weeks and months, as her political star rose, Meloni has on several occasions expressed her support for Israel and sought to downplay the neo-fascist roots of her party.

“We have handed fascism over to history for decades now, firmly condemning the loss of democracy, the outrageous anti-Jewish laws, and the tragedy of World War II,” she said in a recent interview with Israel Hayom.

Meloni said her party “unambiguously condemns Nazism and communism” and “fiercely opposes any anti-democratic drift.” The Italian Right, she also said, “consigned fascism to history decades ago, unambiguously condemning the suppression of democracy and ignominious anti-Jewish laws.”

She said she would head a “modern European and Western right-wing government” and reiterated her party’s affiliation with other mainstream conservative factions, including Israel’s “Likud party, the British Tories and the American Republicans.”

Last week, Meloni kicked out a party candidate who years ago posted a photo of her with the slogan “Italy Above All” and wrote, “This reminds me of a great statesman from 70 years ago,” elaborating that he was referring not to Mussolini but to a “German.”

The Italian Jewish community has welcomed Meloni’s repudiation of fascism and pointed to her support for Jewish candidate Ester Mieli as evidence of her distance from fascist antisemitism.

“Meloni has been courageous when she declared that you cannot use fascist symbols and be a member of her party,” said Riccardo Pacifici, former president of the Rome Jewish community and current representative of the European Jewish Association in Italy.

“She promised me that she will find these people who are nostalgic for fascism and will ban them from the party,” he told the Jerusalem Post.

Other indications are less sanguine for Israel. Meloni previously praised Iran, the Lebanese terror group Hezbollah and other allies of Syrian President Bashar Assad.

Speaking to reporters in December 2018, Meloni said that if not for Hezbollah and the rest of the pro-Assad front — which includes Iran and Russia — Christians in Syria would no longer be able to display the nativity scene depicting Jesus Christ’s birth during Christmas.

She has also tweeted on the Israel-Gaza situation, decrying “another massacre of children in Gaza” in response to deadly strikes on a hospital and playground in Gaza City in 2014, attacks that Israel attributed to misfired rockets by Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

There was no immediate reaction from Israel, with results coming as the country celebrated the Jewish New Year. But Israel has in the past sought to boycott far-Right European parties that have come to power.

READ MORE
‘Mother, Italian, Christian’: Giorgia Meloni, Italy’s far-right leader on the cusp of power (France24)

Italy’s Jewish community isn’t worried about new 'fascist' PM (Jerusalem Post)

Meloni: ‘I believe that the existence of Israel is vital and I will make every effort to invest in greater cooperation between our countries' (Israel Hayom)

Italy’s Meloni portrays herself as strong supporter of Israel, rejects fascist past (Times of Israel)

Italy far-right leader once hailed Iran, Hezbollah as defenders of Syrian Christians (Times of Israel)
2018 video shows Giorgia Meloni, who has now vowed to support Israel, offering praise of Syria’s Assad and his backers

Italy’s far-right frontrunner party suspends candidate who praised Hitler (Times of Israel)

Photo: Giorgia Meloni at the end of the electoral round that saw her victorious (Piero Tenagli/Sipa USA /AAP