An Italian TV Presenter Rejects Jerusalem as Israel’s Capital
Rome, MINA – Flavio Insinna, host of the popular Italian TV show L’Eredità, made a statement that does not recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
“International law does not recognize Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Israel,” said Insinna, as quoted from MEMO.
This official order has been dictated by the Roman Court (Tribunale di Roma) which on 5 August decided to support two pro-Palestinian Italian organizations against the Italian national public broadcaster RAI.
It started when on May 21st, TV game show contestants were asked “what is the capital of Israel?” The answer “Tel Aviv” is considered wrong. The correct answer according to the TV show host is “Jerusalem.”
The incident sparked public debate in Italy. Italy’s foreign policy remains consistent with international law that does not recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
On June 5, the host, Insinna, tried to quell the controversy, giving a statement partly saying “there are different views on the matter.”
However, Italian lawyers Fausto Gianelli and Dario Rossi, representing “Associazione Palestinesi in Italy” and “Associazione Benefica di solidarietà con il popolo Palestinese”, respectively, decided to take the case to court.
After deliberating, judge Cecilia Pratesi delivered the much-awaited verdict: “The Italian state does not recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.”
“It is well known that on December 21, 2017, Italy supported a UN General Assembly Resolution rejecting the US decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel,” the judge said.
“It is also known that the UN itself repeatedly issued its opinion, condemned Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories and East Jerusalem, and denied any legal validity of Israel’s decision to turn Jerusalem into its capital,” the judge added.
“UN resolutions”, the ruling continued, “must be considered conventional law, which directly applies to our legal system.” (T/R7/RE1)
Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)
