Italy’s Meloni suspends automatic renewal of defense deal with Israel

On 2026-04-18, Italy’s government, announced by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, suspended the automatic renewal of its defense memorandum with Israel. The decision was conveyed in Verona on the sidelines of Vinitaly and sent to the Israeli government and Defense Minister Israel Katz through Defense Minister Guido Crosetto. The memo covered defense cooperation, including military materials and technological research.