The victory of energetic right-wing leader Giorgia Meloni in Italy's general election this week has triggered automatic responses in Israel. On the Israeli Right, people were quick to welcome the news that the likely head of a government of a main European power is willing to publicly state that she would "defend what is holy, God, country and family" and blames the Left for trying to "cancel our identity." On the Israeli Left, people have warned that Italy's prospective premier is "a fascist from the radical Right and is the successor to Benito Mussolini."
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Like the Swedish Democrats, Geert Wilders in the Netherlands, Viktor Orban in Hungary and Marine Le Pen in France, and other right-wing leaders across Europe have all been pigeonholed by the academic and media elite as radical Right. So has Meloni.
Perhaps in the European sense, that label may apply. But that is not how israel should look at things. What Israel has to be concerned with are the Jewish and Israeli dimensions. European right-wing parties present Jerusalem with a complex situation because when it comes to Jews and Israeli matters, each party presents its own unique case.
Wilders is pro-Israel, but Le Pen has never truly purged the antisemitic elements from her orbit like the Swedish Democrats in Sweden. Likewise, Orban has been an ally of the Hungarian Jewish community and has made the Holocaust part of the core curriculum in schools. He has also proudly stated that Hungary is the safest place for Jews.
As for Meloni, she does not appear to have antisemitic or anti-Israeli baggage. Yes, her political upbringing may have been tainted with fascist elements, but she has long disavowed them. She is generally pro-Israeli and has been part of the European Conservatives and Reformists Group – a center-right political group in the European Parliament that includes Likud. She will likely appoint Giulio Terzi as foreign minister for the second time in his career. He was a defender of Israel and even served as ambassador to the Jewish state. He would have not joined her party had he believed it was fascist or antisemitic.
Meloni is a very ambitious politician. She has so far refrained from going out against Iran. She should be closely scrutinized on this matter, but the Israeli Left's all-out attack on her that she is somehow fascist is just unwarranted and ludicrous. The sad fact is that antisemites exist everywhere, and that includes the Italian Left. Just recently a member of Italy's Democratic Party blamed none other than the Jews for being Nazi. Another lawmaker from the party said Israel lacks legitimacy and that Jerusalem is occupied territory. Thus, before the Israeli Left points a finger at the European Right, it should perhaps purge its own problematic elements and disassociate from them.
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