"L 'initiative to be taken urgently, of very high political significance and anything but merely symbolic, is theimmediate national recognition of the State of Palestine“. With these words, 34 former Italian ambassadors – among which stand out names such as Pasquale Ferrara, Ferdinando Nelli Feroci, Pasquale Quito Terracciano and Carlo Trezza – they turn to to the President of the Council, Giorgia Meloni, Through a open letter in which they ask for a a decisive change of direction in Italian foreign policy in the Middle East.
In the document, the signatories, former diplomatic representatives in strategic locations such as Brussels, London, Moscow, Beijing and NATO, denounce the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip and urge the government to take concrete and decisive action, starting with the recognition of the State of Palestine, considered the first step to seriously relaunch the two-state solution.
"There are moments in history when ambiguity and middle ground are no longer possible. This moment has come for Gaza," the diplomats wrote, justifying their intervention with "the long years spent in the diplomatic service, faithful to the cause of peace and dialogue, in the spirit of Article 11 of the Constitution."
“Serious violations, unjustified operations”
The text contains aexplicit accusation against Israeli conduct in the Strip"For many months now, there have been no longer any possible justifications or convincing arguments for the conduct of Israeli military operations," the signatories state. And they add that it is "not at all inappropriate" to speak of ethnic cleansing, remembering that the International Court of Justice is called upon to evaluate the extremes of genocide.
Pure recognizing the gravity of the terrorist attacks in Hamas of October 7, 2023, the 34 ambassadors underline that such acts cannot justify the horror inflicted on the civilian population Palestinian: “Acts that no longer have any relation, neither quantitative nor qualitative, to what is happening in Gaza.”
In the text the humanitarian blockade is also denounced“The unacceptable restrictions on humanitarian access to Gaza, the reduction to unacceptable minimum levels, with no real alternatives, of the activities of international organizations in favor of a so-called humanitarian foundation, are causing thousands of new innocent victims.”
The demands: a halt to military cooperation and EU sanctions.
In addition to the recognition of the State of Palestine, the letter lists a series of requests addressed to the Italian governmentThe signatories propose:
- the suspension of all military and defense cooperation with Israel
- support, at EU level, for individual sanctioning measures, such as asset freezes and international travel restrictions, against Israeli ministers who support the colonization of the West Bank;
- joining the European consensus for the temporary suspension of the Association Agreement between Israel and the European Union.
All measures aimed at put pressure on Tel Aviv so that it respects international law and reopens to the prospect of negotiation.
“Two peoples, two states”
At the heart of the letter is the hope that the historic formula of the “two peoples, two states” must not remain a simple slogan"This decision," it reads, "would confirm that, for Italy, the 'two peoples, two states' vision is not just a meaningless and unreliable slogan, but rather a negotiating process that must be resumed immediately."
The recognition of the State of Palestine, former diplomats explain, would represent a strong political signal in view of the International Conference on the Implementation of the Two-State SolutionRelations with Israel, they conclude, must be “strictly conditioned on this perspective.”
In the final passage of the letter, the ambassadors explain the profound reasons for their appeal, recalling his experience in the service of the State: “the long years spent in Italian diplomacy, supporting the cause of peace and dialogue, in the spirit of Article 11 of the Constitution, oblige us to speak. We cannot remain silent or inert in the face of systematic denial., on the part of the Israeli government, of everything we believed in and for which we carried out our diplomatic profession."
