The Israeli ambassador Peled in Sicily: "The war against Iran belongs to everyone, Europe must take action"

Words are important. There is certainly no need to remind a seasoned diplomat like Jonathan Peled, Israel's ambassador to Italy for a year and a half, after having lived and mediated in El Salvador as well as in Australia. Peled has a role that is nothing short of delicate, given the overexposure of the country he represents due to the choices of the Netanyahu government, first in Gaza and now in Tehran. Because regarding the Israeli-American action in Iran, distinctions are multiplying, with non-tactical but substantive distancing. While being aware that the regime in Tehran is obtuse and violent, denying rights to women and opponents, and has suffocated in blood every attempt at rebellion, Europe is questioning the legitimacy of this war without any international mandate.

For this reason, Peled uses firm but diplomatic tones, those that too often get drowned out by the noise of explosions, to try to explain that Israel's reasons concern a part of the world and not just the Star of David, that the ongoing conflict in Iran is a "just war" with no alternatives either temporal or strategic, and that the fall of the ayatollahs would also benefit the Palestinians.

In an interview at Villa Scammacca, in the offices of La Sicilia, Peled defends the choice to attack Iran, urges Europe to "roll up its sleeves," and sends a message to the Palestinians and the millions of people who have taken to the streets to defend the children of Gaza from horror.

The most obvious question, given the geopolitical context that is beginning to emerge: was this war necessary?

"Yes, absolutely yes, unfortunately. It was the last useful moment to act, in the face of the military danger posed by the Tehran regime. The "window" to do so was about to close. Because Iran had significantly accelerated the production of ballistic missiles and was making progress on the nuclear front, trying to hide everything beneath the surface, away from the eyes of Western intelligence agencies. If we had not intervened now, it would have been too late to remove this existential threat to Israel, but also to the Gulf countries and indirectly to Europe. The missiles from Tehran - Peled recalls - can reach Turkey, Cyprus, Azerbaijan, Iraq, and Jordan. As demonstrated by the events of these weeks, the arc of instability drawn by the ayatollah regime dangerously brushes against the borders of Europe. I also wish to draw attention to a particularly serious aspect: Iranian missiles do not spare even sacred places. Recently, we had a concrete demonstration of this when an Iranian missile exploded over the Old City of Jerusalem, with fragments reaching the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the Armenian Patriarchate, the Jewish Quarter, and the Temple Mount, in close proximity to the Al-Aqsa Mosque. It is worth remembering that Jerusalem is a city of over a million inhabitants, where Jews, Christians, and Muslims live side by side, sharing spaces and places of worship."

Yet the diplomatic path, invoked again in these hours by Pope Leo, was there; there was even an open table in Oman, and then there were talks in Geneva a month before the attack...

"The diplomatic path had already been attempted more than once. But the Iranians refused to truly negotiate, they refused to compromise and underestimated the seriousness of Trump and the United States. So, unfortunately - and here Peled emphasizes it - the military option was necessary, at that point the only way to remove this threat."

Did Europe, the governments, and especially public opinion, understand the danger coming from Tehran?

«Europe must do more, it must, as they say in Italian, roll up its sleeves, get its hands dirty. It has too often delegated its security to the United States and this pattern is not sustainable. I believe that Europe is perceiving the dangerousness of the Iranian threat. It is a fact that does not only concern Israel or the United States, but the entire West, more directly, the Gulf countries that have always been afraid of Iran for a reason. Now the proof is before everyone's eyes. What we are talking about is not just a war between Israel, the US, and Iran; it is a conflict that we are fighting in the name of the entire Western world».

Ambassador, La Sicilia interviewed an Israeli expert, Ely Korman from Reichman University, who stated unequivocally that killing Khamenei was a mistake simply because in this context the risk of terrorism for the West will be higher. Does the desperation of the loser not fuel this kind of retaliation?

«Yes and no. Yes, because Islamic terrorism, from fanatical Islam, is a serious threat. No, because the risk of attacks does not arise now; it has always existed for us Israelis and for the whole world. I mean that it is a consequence of this war: just think of the attacks in Madrid, the bombs in London, the attacks in Paris. Jihadist terror has already struck at the heart of Europe, multiple times. Using the risk of terrorism as an excuse not to confront the Iranian regime once and for all would be a strategic error of enormous proportions. The threat exists, it is real, but it cannot become an alibi for inaction».

SWill it be a short war? Meanwhile, the timelines have already lengthened and depend on the objective that one wants to achieve.

«I believe it will be a fairly short war. The declared objective is not territorial conquest or occupation, but dismantling Iran's ability to launch ballistic missiles towards Israel and Europe and creating the conditions for the Iranian people to finally free themselves from the regime that oppresses them».

Italy and Israel: a solid relationship, certainly from an institutional point of view, but not without tensions, even recent ones, because the country has mobilized regarding what the Netanyahu government has done in Gaza after October 7, 2023, following the Hamas attack. The images of Palestinian civilian victims, of children in distress, have impressed the entire world and have fueled street demonstrations, a true mobilization.

"It is true that public opinion is not always with us - admits Peled - while the Italian government has shown a more open tendency towards Israel. But now I believe everyone can see how real the threat posed by Hamas was, a problem not only for Israel, but for all of the West."

It is a fact that Italy has considered a law to curb the wave of antisemitism that has reached the country...

"Antisemitism is not a problem for Jews or Israelis, it is a problem for Italians, for Italian society. And fighting every form of racism, especially antisemitism but any type of discrimination, is in the interest of Italy. Italian Jews - the ambassador recalls - have been present in your country for over two thousand years and are full-fledged Italian citizens: they must feel as safe as all other Italian citizens, enjoying the same rights and protections. I have also told this to Senator Liliana Segre, whom I have had the pleasure of meeting several times, even at her home."

But, beyond the views of Trump and Netanyahu, the imaginative resorts overlooking the sea, what will really happen to Gaza, to the Palestinian people?

"Hamas without Iran loses its most important support - Peled confidently replies - that is why we are living in a historic moment to change all the balances in the Middle East. An Iran stripped of nuclear capability and the power to finance terrorist organizations would make the world better even for the Palestinians. I am sure that even the majority of Palestinians want to live in peace, or at least in tranquility, with us. This war also benefits Palestine."

This is his first visit to Sicily.

"You live in a beautiful land, I have seen magnificent places and I understand why Israelis love Sicily so much. But I also think about the possibilities of strengthening economic ties, cooperation between us and you, from technology applied to agriculture to tourism, to training. And in any case, we share deep cultural and historical ties with Sicily, the Jewish roots here in Sicily are strong. Israelis have a great love for this Island, not by chance there are already direct flights from Tel Aviv. In these days I have understood why thousands of Israelis come every year to visit Sicily and I gladly add myself to this large group of tourists."

Sicily is not just a place to invest and open hotels, but it is also a central island in the Mediterranean, even in terms of security.

"A strategic position that must be emphasized, not only at this moment of tensions in the area. And we can also work together on this."