Italy’s 2025 security report: Diplomatic evasion

Reading Italy’s 2025 National Security Report feels a bit like watching a magician’s act—there’s plenty of showmanship, a few well-placed distractions, and, by the end, you realize the most important things have vanished into thin air. This intelligence report, meant to offer Parliament a rigorous assessment of security threats, manages to sidestep some of the most pressing issues, particularly its treatment of Hamas and Hezbollah and its deafening silence on Italy’s rising antisemitism crisis.

The choice to refer to Hamas and Hezbollah as ‘militant groups supportive of the Palestinian cause’ is a textbook case of soft language attempting to mask hard realities. Terrorist organizations do not become less dangerous by virtue of careful wording. The European Union formally designates both as terrorist organizations, and their actions—particularly Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel and Hezbollah’s ongoing destabilization of Lebanon—leave no room for ambiguity. The Italian report, however, appears to soften this reality, adopting language more commonly found in diplomatic hedging than in a tough security assessment. This language is not without consequence. By downplaying the nature of these organizations, the report signals a cautious positioning—one that in the past laid the groundwork for the infamous Lodo Moro, where Italy tacitly tolerated terrorist activity on its soil in exchange for being spared from attacks.

This linguistic sleight of hand is especially jarring given the broader geopolitical context. Hamas is not merely a militant faction; it is an Islamist terrorist group that massacred civilians, took hostages, and openly calls for the destruction of Israel. Hezbollah, an Iranian proxy, has expanded its influence in the region through military aggression, arms smuggling, and targeted attacks on both Israeli and Western interests. These are not fringe actors in the Palestinian cause but central players in a broader Islamist strategy that directly threatens European security.

While the report devotes significant attention to terrorism, its analysis of domestic threats conspicuously omits the growing wave of antisemitism in Italy. The past year has witnessed a sharp increase in antisemitic incidents, yet this reality is entirely absent from the intelligence assessment. According to the Observatory on Antisemitism of the CDEC Foundation, antisemitic acts in Italy have nearly doubled, with a surge in both online hate speech and physical attacks. Reports indicate that antisemitic graffiti, vandalism of Jewish sites, and harassment have become increasingly commonplace, particularly in the wake of pro-Palestinian demonstrations. The omission of these developments in a national security report is a glaring oversight of the Jewish segment of the population, as if its small number renders it politically irrelevant.

The rise in antisemitic sentiment is not occurring in a vacuum. Italy, like much of Europe, has seen an emboldened pro-Palestinian movement that often crosses the line into outright antisemitism. Large-scale demonstrations, ostensibly in solidarity with Palestinians, have frequently included chants glorifying Hamas, calls for the destruction of Israel, and acts of vandalism against Jewish symbols. A particularly egregious example was the defacement of a mural in Milan commemorating Edith Bruck and Liliana Segre for the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz—an act that speaks volumes about the current climate. Data from the Antisemitism Observatory shows that reported incidents have jumped from 30 per week to nearly 90, a troubling indication of societal desensitization to anti-Jewish hatred. And yet, none of this finds its way into the intelligence report.

This failure to acknowledge rising antisemitism is not merely an academic concern—it has real-world implications. When intelligence agencies neglect to document and analyze a growing domestic security threat, they contribute to an environment of impunity. Jewish communities in Italy have raised alarms about their safety, yet their concerns are absent from the very report meant to assess national security risks.

The report’s perspective on the broader Middle East conflict also aligns with a narrative consistent with political posturing. While it predictably endorses a diplomatic approach and reiterates the traditional Italian support for a two-state solution, it fails to grapple with the fundamental obstacles to peace. The document avoids any substantive discussion of how groups like Hamas and Hezbollah actively undermine prospects for a negotiated settlement. The report also largely neglects Iran’s role in fueling regional instability, an evident omission given Hezbollah’s reliance on Iranian funding and weaponry.

This reluctance to engage with the harsher realities of the Middle East is symptomatic of a broader trend within European policymaking—one that prioritizes rhetorical balance over clear-eyed assessments. But intelligence reports should not be exercises in diplomatic ambiguity. They should inform Parliament with the unvarnished truth, even when it is politically inconvenient. Italy fails in this regard, offering a sanitized view of security threats that does little to equip the country with the tools needed to confront them.

In conclusion, the intelligence report evades its most critical function: to educate Parliament and raise awareness on the pressing security challenges at hand. By downplaying the role of Hamas and Hezbollah, neglecting the surge in antisemitism, and offering a vague stance on Middle Eastern geopolitics, it fails to contribute meaningfully to the culture of security in the country. Instead, it devolves into diplomatic acrobatics, offering little beyond political convenience. Without a more forthright approach, the report will remain a missed opportunity to inform and shape a more informed and proactive political discourse. Something Italy sorely needs.