ECR MEPs en route to the Holy Land. A delegation from the European Conservatives and Reformists, the group in the European Parliament headed by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, will go on a mission to Israel on March 3. The delegates are slated to meet with Israeli PM Binyamin Netanyahu, leader of Likud, which is one of the ECR’s global partners, according to Il Foglio.
- Members of the delegation should comprise the ECR’s secretary, Antonio Giordano (Brothers of Italy), along with the group’s two vice-presidents, Spain’s Jorge Buxade Villalba (Vox) and Poland’s Radoslaw Fogiel (PiS).
- However, the composition and schedule of the mission are still being finalised, with more details expected in the coming days.
Timing matters. The news arrived shortly after the Italian parliamentary majority and the main opposition party made a rare display of political unity on the Israel-Hamas conflict; the formers allowed the latter to pass a motion calling for an immediate ceasefire. That development underpinned a shift in tones on behalf of Rome: along with several other Western capitals, it’s intensifying pressure on PM Netanyahu to de-escalate the military operation in the Gaza Strip.
- Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani is set to chair a discussion on the matter with his colleagues from the other G-7 nations, as well as from the Arab world, while at the Munich Security Conference this weekend.
- He recently urged Israel “not to fall into Hamas’ trap”.
Political counterweights. It’s hard not to read the March 3 mission as another confirmation of the ECR’s (and PM Meloni’s) support for Israel, which has been steadfast even amidst her calls to rethink the Gaza operation to reduce civilian deaths. There are also signs of a wider entente with political allies overseas: Senator Marco Scurria, President of the Transatlantic Friends of Israel association, told ANSA that a set of MPs from several European countries will join another mission organised by the American Jewish Committee, later this month.
- This latter endeavour aims to show European lawmakers from across the political spectrum the signs of the October 7 terror attack that kickstarted the ongoing crisis.
- The European politicians will also speak with their Israeli counterparts – representatives of the Israeli government, the opposition and some experts – to “really try to understand the situation in which the state of Israel finds itself,” noted the Italian senator.
