Ministry Of Mixed Messages

“We know what you suffered on the Gaza front”

Sympathy directed not at the devastated civilian population of Gaza, but to Knesset ministers during his address in Jerusalem. Italy voted against the Goldstone report, which Berlusconi describe as “intolerable accusations” and an attempt to “criminalise” a justified, proportionate response to Hamas rockets.

Berlusconi in Bethlehem yesterday.

"Just as it is right to cry for the victims of the Shoah [the Holocaust], it is right to show pain for what happened in Gaza".

Wading into the minefield of holocaust comparisons, “Israel’s greatest friend in Europe” unwittingly found himself occupying the same ground as ‘anti-Semites’ Norman Finkelstein and George Galloway. While expressing vehement support for Israel’s brutal assault, Berlusconi can somehow still abhor the consequences.

“We stand with you in Israel’s struggle for peace and security”

Delivered in the same breath as a casual reference to the Palestinian ‘problem’. The Prime Minister was happy to paint Israel as the architects of peace, applauding their modern values and virtues. (Israel) "is not only the biggest example of democracy and liberty in the Middle East, but the only example." He went on to press Mahmoud Abbas on his obligation to restart peace negotiations.

“Israel’s settlement policy an obstacle to peace. Persisting with this policy is a mistake”

Acknowledging Netanyahou’s idea of a freeze does not go far enough, Berlusconi linked the rise of settlements to Israel’s security concerns. The statement can be taken as support for Abbas’ (and previously Obama’s) demand for a total freeze as a goodwill pre-condition for peace talks.

Joint address to the Knesset with PM Netanyahou.

“We can consider Israel a country that is part of Western culture. That is why I believe that we can embark on a path that will lead to Israel becoming a member of the European Union.”

An emphatic rebuttal to the calls for Israel to be isolated while it continue to flout international law. Berlusconi believes membership of the EU would ease the “integration anxieties” of Israeli citizens and give Israel greater unity with Western states. If Berlusconi believes such a move would tie Israel to the obligations of EU member states, he would be well advised to examine its relations with the UN.

Besides that Israel’s security arrangements would make it impossible to satisfy the EU’s core requirement for freedom of movement, the Jewish state has never even applied for membership. The statement is likely to antagonise European nations more critical of Israel’s policy and has a negligible possibility of materialising.