Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Wednesday urged Israel to be a "positive player" for peace in the Middle East following a deal between Iran and the US. "Our goal must be to promote lasting, structural solutions that go beyond the logic of short-term truces," Meloni said as the G7 summit in France came to a close. "We expect Israel to now act as a positive player in the peace process, and that the inevitable internal debate, also driven by the election campaign, will not jeopardize the difficult path that the US has begun," she said. Israel's far-right national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, on Monday denounced the deal between the United States and Iran, insisting his country was not bound by it. Meloni also spoke of a "very positive climate" at the Evian summit between US President Donald Trump and the other leaders present. She said that on Ukraine there was "a lot of convergence, which is not always obvious" and there was "no friction or divergence". Asked about heavy criticism from Trump of her position during the Middle East war, Meloni said that she and the US president were both "quite strong characters". "We are two people who are determined to defend their national interest," she said.
