Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that he would ask Italy to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, Reuters news agency reported.
Netanyahu, who is facing protests against his government’s judiciary reform, arrived in Rome for a three-day visit and will meet Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Friday.
“I believe the time has come for Rome to recognize Jerusalem as the ancestral capital of the Jewish people for three thousand years,” Netanyahu said in an interview with the Italian newspaper La Repubblica.
Italy’s current Vice President of the Council of Ministers, far-right politician Matteo Salvini, immediately backed Netanyahu’s call, according to Reuters.
“I firmly say yes to Jerusalem capital of Israel, in the name of peace, history and truth,” Salvini posted on Twitter.
However, in an interview with Reuters last August, current Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni was more cautious, saying that the embassy move to Jerusalem is “a diplomatic matter and should be evaluated together with the Foreign Ministry”.
(PC, Reuters)
