Bloomberg on Saturday reported that mounting public anger over the war on Gaza has pushed Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni to reconsider her government's stance on Palestine, marking a striking departure from her once-unwavering support for Tel Aviv.

Meloni, who came to power in 2022 as a self-proclaimed ally of "Israel," is now facing a wave of domestic opposition that culminated this week in nationwide strikes and protests. The unrest has coincided with her decision to withdraw from the United Nations session in New York, where France and several other countries officially recognized a Palestinian state despite objections from "Israel" and the United States.

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Meloni said, "Recognizing Palestine in the absence of a state that has the requirements needed for sovereignty doesn't solve the problem." However, she added, "if the recognition of Palestine can be an effective instrument in exerting political pressure, fine, I understand that."

Hypocrisy in Motion

Her plan to introduce a motion in Italy's Parliament appears aimed not at justice for Palestinians but at defusing public anger. The proposed recognition would be conditional, requiring Hamas to release all remaining captives and to forgo participation in any future Palestinian administration, conditions experts describe as an attempt to redefine Palestinian sovereignty through an Israeli lens.

Only days before making these remarks, Meloni had condemned the Gaza-bound Global Sumud Flotilla, calling it "dangerous" and "irresponsible"  even as Italian activists, doctors, and lawmakers came under drone attack in international waters south of Greece. Her government deployed the navy frigate  Fasan not to defend their right to safe passage, but merely to "protect nationals", a gesture that sidestepped the core issue: "Israel's" unlawful naval blockade of Gaza, repeatedly denounced by UN experts as a violation of international law.

Critics argue that Meloni’s overtures toward Palestinian recognition ring hollow when set against her record of abstaining in UN Gaza ceasefire votes, and her government’s inconsistent enforcement of Italy’s arms embargo, which critics say allows Israeli-linked shipments to transit Italian ports under the guise of bureaucratic loopholes. In contrast to her conditional sympathy for Palestinians, Meloni has shown unconditional indulgence for "Israel", framing grassroots solidarity as "reckless" while remaining silent on the ongoing famine, destruction of hospitals, and daily massacres in Gaza.

Italy's Moral Reckoning

According to Gaza's health authorities, "Israel's" campaign has claimed more than 65,000 lives since October 2023, fueling outrage across Italy. Recent polling by Izi for broadcaster La7 showed that 88% of Italians now support recognizing Palestine, a dramatic rise from 54% recorded by Ipsos in October last year.

The shift is also visible in Italian media and culture. On Rai 1, celebrity host Antonella Clerici broke from the usual caution of state television, describing "Israel's" offensive as "objectively a massacre," echoing Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of al-Quds, who warned that neutrality in the face of genocide meant "abandoning one's humanity."

Analysts say Meloni's maneuver reflects a pragmatic attempt to contain public outrage, not a moral awakening. "Italian public opinion is indignant about Gaza in a rather transversal way," said Giovanni Orsina, head of the politics department at Luiss University. "Since she's in electoral mode and will remain in it until 2027, she's attempting to disarm her opponents without disowning who she is."

Read more: Italy's Meloni condemns plans for new Israeli West Bank settlements

Moral Opportunism

For many observers, Meloni's contradictions, denouncing solidarity flotillas while courting pro-Palestine voters, abstaining at the UN while preaching humanitarian concern, typify a European double standard that praises "peace" while protecting a colonial siege. Her oscillation between caution and compassion, critics say, reveals not leadership but moral opportunism: a prime minister swayed not by conscience, but by collapsing public trust.

As Riccardo Fabiani of Crisis Group noted, "The transformation under Meloni would've been unthinkable just some months ago", a transformation many now see as too little, too late, arriving only after Gaza has been reduced to rubble and Europe's silence has become deafening.