VZCZCXRO4035
OO RUEHFL RUEHNP RUEHROV
DE RUEHRO #2061 2001359
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 191359Z JUL 06
FM AMEMBASSY ROME
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 5413
INFO RUEHXK/ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHROV/AMEMBASSY VATICAN PRIORITY 0432
RUEHFL/AMCONSUL FLORENCE PRIORITY 1585
RUEHMIL/AMCONSUL MILAN PRIORITY 7382
RUEHNP/AMCONSUL NAPLES PRIORITY 1672

C O N F I D E N T I A L ROME 002061 
 
SIPDIS 
 
NOFORN 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/18/2016 
TAGS: PREL MARR GOV LE IS IT
SUBJECT: ISRAEL SEES IMPROVEMENT ON THE ITALIAN LEFT 
 
REF: ROME 1967 
 
Classified By: POL M/C David D. Pearce for Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) 
 
¶1. (C/NF) Summary.  Israel sees an improving attitude by much 
of the Italian left toward Israel, according to an Israeli 
Embassy official in Rome.  In a July 18 address to 
Parliament, FM D'Alema said Israel's reaction to Hezbollah in 
Lebanon was legitimate, but "went beyond all reasonable 
proportions."  D'Alema reiterated Italy's willingness to 
participate in an international peacekeeping force and work 
for a donors' conference for Lebanon.  End summary. 
 
¶2. (C/NF) Pol MC and PolOff met July 18 with Israeli DCM 
Elazar Cohen to discuss the ongoing conflict with Lebanon. 
Cohen said the situation would have only gotten worse if 
Israel had waited, giving Hezbollah more time to increase its 
arms arsenal.  As it was, Cohen said, Israel had made two 
critical mistakes: 1) not to stop Hezbollah's arms buildup; 
and 2) not to push the international community for 
implementation of UNSCR 1559 (especially regarding the 
disarming of militias). 
 
¶3. (C/NF) Cohen said military actions alone would not solve 
the problem.  He viewed Hezbollah's attack, which came right 
before Iran was due to respond to EU High Representative 
Solana on the nuclear issue, as a signal from Iran.  The 
international community needed a mechanism to deal not only 
with Hezbollah but also with Iran and Syria, otherwise an 
international peacekeeping force would be useless.  He viewed 
the "unusual" step taken by Egypt, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia 
in condemning Hezbollah as moderate Arab states taking 
advantage of a window of opportunity to send a strong message 
to all these parties. 
 
¶4. (C/NF) Noting that Larijani's visit to Rome (reftel) 
occurred right before his meeting with Solana, Cohen said 
that the Italian approach appeared to be to offer Iran 
something,  e.g., a dialogue on regional security, in return 
for its cooperation on the nuclear issue.   Prodi told 
Larijani to use its leverage on Hezbollah, Iraq, and 
Afghanistan, Cohen said, but he hoped Prodi also told Iran to 
change its leverage "180 degrees" because it was currently 
being used to support Hezbollah's actions, not deter them. 
 
¶5. (C) Cohen said Prodi had spoken to PM Olmert twice since 
the outbreak of the conflict. Olmert's planned July 27 for 
Rome has been postponed.  (Prodi reportedly now plans to 
visit Israel on the 27th instead.) The Italians were trying 
hard to demonstrate that the Prodi government had not changed 
Italy's views toward relations with Israel. He said the 
Berlusconi government had reversed previous Italian policy of 
viewing the conflict as a zero-sum game, where support for 
the Arabs excluded any support for Israel, seeing it instead 
as a positive-sum game in which Italy maintained ties and 
access with both sides. 
 
¶6. (C)  Democrats of the Left (DS) leader Fassino and MFA U/S 
Vernetti both attended the July 17 torchlight demonstration 
at the Rome synagogue.  Cohen said Israel was pleased with 
what it saw as a changing attitude by much of the Italian 
left; now only some of the far left parties were unalterably 
anti-Israel.  He noted that moderate members of extreme left 
parties like Communist Renewal were now being criticized by 
their more extreme wings for the (more balanced) approach to 
the Arab-Israeli conflict. 
 
¶7. (C) This meeting occurred several hours before FM D'Alema 
addressed Parliament on the conflict, in which he again 
acknowledged Israel's right to self-defense but also said, 
"Israel's reaction, albeit legitimate on the basis of 
self-defense according to the UN Charter, went beyond all 
reasonable proportions."  While terming Iranian and Syrian 
involvement "difficult to verify," he underscored that the 
crisis was sparked by radical forces supported and funded 
from the outside, citing specifically both Hamas (based in 
Damascus) and Hezbollah.  D'Alema also reiterated Italy's 
willingness to contribute to an international force "after 
the cease-fire" and to work actively for a donors' conference 
on Lebanon. 
SPOGLI