By Romana Rubeo 
The automatic renewal of the military MoU with Israel constitutes a violation of Italy’s constitutional principles and international obligations: this is the position of ten Italian legal experts who have issued a formal notice to the government.
A group of Italian lawyers formally notified the Meloni government on Wednesday, demanding the immediate suspension of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on military and defense cooperation between Italy and Israel, which is set to be tacitly renewed on June 8, 2025.
The notice, dated May 21, 2025, was addressed to the Prime Minister’s Office, the Ministries of Defense and Foreign Affairs, and the President of the Republic. It was reviewed by the Palestine Chronicle.
It is signed by a group of experts in constitutional and international law: Michele Carducci, Veronica Dini, Domenico Gallo, Ugo Giannangeli, Fausto Gianelli, Fabio Marcelli, Ugo Mattei, Luigi Piccione, Luca Saltalamacchia, and Gianluca Vitale, all represented by the Piccione Law Firm in Bari.
According to the signatories, Italy would be violating its constitutional and international legal obligations by continuing military cooperation with a state charged with extremely serious crimes before the world’s top courts.
The initiative, promoted by lawyers and academics with expertise in international law, is based on recent developments in international jurisprudence and on “the extremely grave situation currently unfolding in Gaza, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem,” as Fausto Gianelli, a prominent lawyer and one of the signatories, told the Palestine Chronicle.
“On June 8, 2025, the Italian government will automatically renew the Memorandum of Understanding on military and defense cooperation with Israel,” Gianelli explained.
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“This will happen despite the catastrophic situation in the occupied Palestinian territories. We are witnessing a scenario in which the International Court of Justice acknowledged the plausibility of the ongoing genocide against the Palestinian people. That same Court, in July 2024, declared the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory illegal and ordered its dismantling by September 17, 2025,” he continued.
“In addition, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants in November 2024 against Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity.”
For these reasons, the legal notice argues that the current implementation of the MoU “is in clear violation of both treaty-based international law (…) and the repudiation of war enshrined in Article 11 of the Italian Constitution, as well as customary international law.”
Describing Israel’s military operations in the Gaza Strip since October 2023, the notice refers to “a context of destruction, death, and the continual degradation of human dignity, as evidenced by the confirmed toll of 60,000 victims.”
The signatories also denounce the lack of transparency surrounding the agreement. Signed in Paris in 2003 and in effect since 2005, the MoU is renewed every five years unless one of the parties explicitly terminates it.
Despite involving public expenditures, the agreement is largely covered by military secrecy, making it virtually impossible for Italian citizens to know how public funds are being used.
The document notes that the MoU includes cooperation on the import, export, and transit of military materials, training of armed forces, and industrial procurement policies in the defense sector.
It also provides for military agreements not only between states but also between private companies in both countries, subject to government authorization.
According to Gianelli, “the renewal of this agreement represents confirmation of Italy’s support for Israel’s war machine,” he told the Palestine Chronicle.
“We are talking about a military power that has flattened the Gaza Strip, killing over 60,000 Palestinians in the last two years, including 18,000 children. At the same time, it continues to annex territory in the West Bank, forcibly displacing its residents.”
“The Italian government has a legal — not just moral — obligation to act accordingly,” Gianelli concluded.
– Romana Rubeo is an Italian writer and the managing editor of The Palestine Chronicle. Her articles appeared in many online newspapers and academic journals. She holds a Master’s Degree in Foreign Languages and Literature and specializes in audio-visual and journalism translation.
