Jonathan Peled he has been Israel’s ambassador to Italy and San Marino for a year. He welcomed us to his headquarters in the heart of Parioli while his country was busy managing a fragile ceasefire in Gaza, turmoil on the border with Lebanon and settler violence in the West Bank.
Ambassador, is there any possibility of achieving phase 2 of the Gaza plan?
“Israel has completed phase 1, retreating behind the yellow lines, stopping fire, letting humanitarian aid through. Hamas should have released all hostages dead or alive within 72 hours, unfortunately we are still waiting for the last body. The plan is proceeding in stages: we will not move on to the next stage until the previous stage is completed.”
Who will disarm Hamas?
“I would say the United States. President Trump is bringing all the pressure to the negotiating table. But if Hamas does not agree to voluntarily abandon its weapons, if the use of force again becomes necessary, then only Israel can overcome this. With the support of Trump and his coalition.”
A ceasefire was signed on 9 October. Does the climate around Israel change in a month?
“Sadly not. The demonstrators who say they support Gaza reveal their true colors: they are not pro-Palestinian, they are anti-Israel. As if the news of the ceasefire had not reached Italy, or Europe. The anti-establishment, pro-Pal groups with Islamic infiltration, are not in tune with the facts, they consider them irrelevant. Demonstrations continue with violence.”
And have there been any changes in intergovernmental relations?
«We have no problems with the Italian government, which has always supported us after October 7th. Our challenge concerns public opinion and the media. This has to do with misinformation in schools and universities. Even with the boycott of our basketball and football teams.”
Perhaps, to get closer to Western public opinion, Israel should face military retaliation in Gaza after the horrific events that occurred on October 7. A retaliation that is considered disproportionate not only by the people on the street, but also by leaders historically close to you.
“We will conduct a national and public investigation into the failure of October 7, and also the military response. We will evaluate whether it was right and fair. But this is an internal debate, it will not change the facts. Many Western countries, even critical ones, understand that Israel is defending Western countries from terrorism. Last week a Hamas cell was discovered in Berlin, we know there are other cells in other countries. Europe must wake up and realize that what Israel is experiencing can one day be experienced by its citizens.”
Will air links between Italy and Israel be restored?
“ITA will recall them from January 1, this is a solved problem. But travel warnings still haunt us, warnings for travelers that signal Israel as a risk country. We want these alarms to subside, Israel is a calm and safe country. Delegates of institutions contact us, why can’t ordinary citizens do it?”
Maybe because Netanyahu said the war was not over.
“I think Netanyahu wanted to say that the war against our enemies is not over, but there is no war within Israel.”
How long will it take to normalize trade relations with Italy?
“With a ceasefire, if travel restrictions are lifted, we will be able to revive trade, tourism and technology. We have a lot to offer Italy and vice versa. Intense G2G (Government to Government, ed.) collaboration is underway, we have forms of cooperation that must be disbursed in the interests of both sides. After all, even during the war, Israelis continued to come to Italy, millions of tourists every year.”
The impression is that relations with allied countries have cooled.
«Friends remain friends even in difficult times, Italy and America are examples. Unfortunately in this world public opinion is not on our side, we have to win back their minds and hearts. Israel is admired as a dynamic democracy, a “startup nation”, a country that makes deserts thrive. We must remind the world: our size is small, but our contribution in the fields of energy, science and technology is enormous.”
Despite this, several Italian universities have cut ties.
«I want one concept to be clear: if a university in any city in Italy collaborates with the Hebrew University, this is not a favor to Israel but a cooperation that is beneficial to both. This failure of cooperation is a self-inflicted loss. The same applies to Puglia: refusing collaboration with Israel means giving up on a solution to the water problem.”
Cases of anti-Semitism are increasing in Italy. Are we no longer a safe country for Jews?
“The Italian government is working seriously. However, we need to invest more in education and law enforcement. Anti-Semitism is an extreme form of racism. If the Jewish community is not protected, tomorrow the gay community, and other minority groups, will not feel safe. Anti-Semitism is not the problem of Jews but the problem of liberal society.”
Meanwhile, a third of New York’s Jewish voters elected Mamdani, the city’s first Muslim mayor with an anti-Zionist stance.
“I don’t understand how they could elect this guy. I think it’s a backlash against Trumpism and the far right. The United States is very polarized right now. In my opinion – I don’t speak as an ambassador – one of the problems of contemporary society is the lack of real information. Education cannot be built through TikTok, Facebook, Twitter.”
Speaking of the United States, Donald Trump has asked your President to pardon Netanyahu. Isn’t there a risk that Israel will be considered a country with limited sovereignty?
“Absolutely yes. We have great respect for President Trump, but when another country’s domestic affairs are at stake, we have to stay within limits. I’m not sure if our President wrote to Trump asking for amnesty for someone in America, the American people would be happy.”
Can the Abraham Accords create the conditions for “two peoples, two states”?
«First we have to expand this agreement to other countries, I am thinking about Arabia and Indonesia. This will be a very important result. All 24 countries in Trump’s plan have the same goal: defeating terrorism and Islamic extremism. When we make progress on this, we will discuss a solution for Palestine. It is too early to say how this will be defined. But we must learn to live peacefully, side by side.”
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