&imwidth=800&imheight=600&format=webp&quality=medium "Tensions between Italy and Israel escalate over a magazine cover. Here’s what happened")
A diplomatic rift between Italy and Israel has deepened after an Italian magazine cover reignited tensions, coming just days before Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni announced the suspension of a defence agreement with Tel Aviv.
The controversy centres on a cover published by Italian weekly L'Espresso, dated April 10, 2026. The image depicts an armed Israeli settler filming a Palestinian woman during a raid in the occupied West Bank. The photograph, originally taken in 2025, was republished amid escalating tensions in West Asia.
The magazine used the cover to criticise what it described as the expansion of “Greater Israel”, referencing Israeli actions in the Gaza Strip, the occupied West Bank, the occupied Golan Heights and, more recently, Lebanon. The issue, titled ‘L’Abuso’ or ‘The Abuse’, juxtaposed the smiling Israeli man with what it described as a distressed Arab girl, underscoring what it portrayed as the human cost of Israel’s ongoing military operations.
In a caption shared on its official social media platforms, L’Espresso wrote: “The annexation of the West Bank, with soldiers complicit with the settlers. Gaza annihilated. The advance into Lebanon. The breached border in Syria. The war against Iran. Ethnic cleansing and massacres. This is how the Zionist right is shaping Greater Israel.”
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The publication of the cover has drawn a sharp response from Israeli officials. Jonathan Peled, Israel’s ambassador to Italy, condemned what he called the “manipulative use” of the image.
“We strongly condemn the manipulative use of the recent cover of L’Espresso. The image distorts the complex reality with which Israel must coexist, promoting stereotypes and hatred. Responsible journalism must be balanced and fair,” Peled wrote on X.
In subsequent posts, the envoy also alleged that the image had been generated using artificial intelligence, a claim that has been disputed.
