"We will work together to strengthen ties":
Prime Minister Lapid this evening (Saturday) for the first time congratulated the new Prime Minister of Italy, Giorgio Maloney.
Lapid's blessing was published on the day Maloney was sworn into office, this after since her election the State of Israel had refrained from officially congratulating her, due to the anti-Semitic past of parts of her party.
"Congratulations to Giorgia Maloney for establishing the new government in Italy," Lapid wrote on Twitter, and also tagged the new prime minister in his tweet.
"I look forward to working together to strengthen the ties between Jerusalem and Rome as well as in the international arena, including in international organizations and in everything related to the fight against anti-Semitism, in Europe and the Middle East. I also congratulate Foreign Minister Antonio Tagjani, a firm and long-time friend of the State of Israel, on his assumption of office."
After the results of the Italian elections were announced, confusion prevailed in Israel, and only a few days later the Foreign Ministry published a statement that refrained from congratulating Maloney herself on her victory: "Israel congratulates the people of Italy on the end of the election campaign and looks forward to continued cooperation and friendship with the government that will be established and with the Italian people, with an emphasis on The economy, energy, water, innovation and cyber - as well as in the joint fight against anti-Semitism and the preservation of the memory of the Holocaust. Italy is an important friend of Israel," the statement said.
Meloni
Receiving congratulations from the right after being elected (archive), photo: AFP
The roots of the "Brothers of Italy" party, headed by Maloney, are rooted in the Italian neo-fascist movement, which arose in the country after the overthrow and execution of Benito Mussolini in 1945.
Mussolini's descendants were members of the party, alongside activists who expressed fascist and even neo-Nazi views.
The party itself promotes negative attitudes against immigrants, LGBT people and the European Union, and on the other hand advocates for the promotion of conservative values that support Christianity and the traditional family.
However, in recent years the party adopted a more moderate policy and took steps to rid itself of the anti-Semitic association that stuck to it.
Maloney herself stated that she considers Israel an "essential ally" of Italy, and on her last visit to Israel, in 2011, she visited Yad Vashem.
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