Relationship dossier
Israel
Italy
Relationship assessment
Substantive cooperation alongside disagreements over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
Israel toward Italy
+25Israel has engaged Italy through bilateral political and defence cooperation, including a government-to-government defence-cooperation framework. Israeli policy toward the Palestinians and military operations have nevertheless been sources of disagreement with the Italian government.
Italy toward Israel
+15Italy has maintained bilateral political and defence cooperation with Israel, while criticizing Israeli actions affecting Palestinians. In 2024, Italy said it had suspended new arms-export licences to Israel, while existing contracts were to be honoured.
Overall relationship
+20The relationship has a durable basis in political engagement and defence cooperation, but disagreements over Israeli policy toward Palestinians and arms exports have constrained alignment. These features support a generally cooperative relationship without eliminating meaningful friction.
How to read these scores
Scores are rough judgments, not objective measurements or current verification. Directional scores describe government policy and conduct, not public opinion. The overall score is an independent estimate, never an average.
- −100
- Extreme sustained hostility
- −50
- Substantially adversarial
- 0
- Mixed or neutral, supported by knowledge
- +50
- Substantially cooperative
- +100
- Exceptionally close sustained partnership
“Not assessed” means there is no recorded score. Pair existence makes no claim about diplomatic recognition or established relations.
Relationship context
Overview
Israel and Italy have maintained substantive government cooperation, including a bilateral defence-cooperation framework and high-level political engagement. Relations have also faced friction over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict: Italy has criticized Israeli actions and suspended new arms-export licences to Israel while allowing existing contracts to continue. The relationship combines practical cooperation with significant policy disagreements.
Areas of tension
- Israeli military operations and their humanitarian consequences in Gaza
- Israeli policies and actions affecting Palestinians
- Italy’s suspension of new arms-export licences to Israel
Key developments
Israel and Italy established a bilateral defence-cooperation framework.
Italy announced a suspension of new arms-export licences to Israel while stating that existing contracts would be honoured.
Major uncertainties
- The scope and implementation of bilateral defence cooperation are unclear.
- The duration and practical effect of Italy’s suspension of new arms-export licences are uncertain.