Italian defense minister accuses Netanyahu of ‘losing reason and humanity’
Crosetto said Israel’s onslaught in Gaza and grave crimes in the occupied West Bank demand action to compel real change
Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto said on 11 August that Israel’s government had “lost its reason and humanity” over its actions in Gaza, adding that Rome should consider sanctions to pressure Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“What is happening is unacceptable. We are not facing a military operation with collateral damage, but the pure denial of the law and the founding values of our civilization,” Crosetto told La Stampa.
“Fighting terrorists is no longer an excuse,” he added.
Corsetto said Italy remained committed to delivering humanitarian aid, but that “we must now find a way to force Netanyahu to think clearly, beyond condemnation.”
Asked about possible international sanctions, Crosetto said, “the occupation of Gazaand some serious acts in the West Bank mark a qualitative leap, in the face of which decisions must be made that force Netanyahu to think.”
He insisted such action “wouldn’t be a move against Israel, but a way to save that people from a government which has lost reason and humanity.”
Crosetto stressed the need to “always distinguish governments from states and peoples, as well as from the religions they profess,” adding that this applied to Netanyahu, “and it applies to [Russian President Vladimir] Putin, whose methods, by now, have become dangerously similar.”
His comments came after Netanyahu defended a plan to take control of Gaza City, a move that has drawn criticism worldwide.
Crosetto also defended Italy’s decision not to join other states in recognizing a Palestinian state, claiming that “recognizing a state that doesn’t exist risks turning into nothing but a political provocation in a world dying of provocations.”