“Italy had given a licence to kill Jews,” a series of new documents shows

A series of newly published documents revealed that Italy turned a blind eye to a Palestinian terror attack in 1982 against the Jewish synagogue in Rome.

This weekly comment was written by Ghila Amati and reflects her personal analyses and opinions, rather than those of EARS.

Italy gives a licence to kill Jews

A series of newly published documents has revealed that Italy turned a blind eye to a Palestinian terror attack against the Jewish synagogue in Rome in 1982. The agreement between Italy and the Palestinian terrorists was called ‘Ludo Moro’. According to the agreement, the Italian government would not stop any attack towards Italian Jews in exchange for the promise that no other Italian places would be attacked.^[1]

According to the newly published – and distressing – documents, the Italian government knew that specifically an attack on the Jewish Rome synagogue would be performed in 1982 and did nothing to protect the Jewish community., The documents were hidden all of this time. Although the Italian President Francesco Cossiga had claimed that “Italy had given a license to kill Jews” in an interview with Israeli media in 2008, many had defined him as a ‘crazy old man’.^[2] In December 2021, though, the documents were published and the accusations made by Cossiga were revealed to be true.^[3] In the attack, a 3-year-old child was killed and 37 people were injured.^[4]

Italy was warned of the attack

Already at the beginning of June 1982, the secret services of Italy had warned the Italian government that a terrorist attack on the Italian synagogue was being planned. The head of the secret service, Emanuele de Francesco, sent a message to the police which stated: “A reliable source reported that Palestinians living in Europe were instructed to act in a series of attacks against Jewish and Israeli targets in Europe.”

At the end of the same month, another note was sent which claimed: “Palestinian students plan to attack a Jewish target in Rome and at the top of their list – the synagogue in Rome.” 16 warnings were sent to the government between June and the day of the attack; 3of the warnings even explicitly referred to the synagogue in Rome. Yet, despite all of these warnings, the Jewish synagogue did not get police protection on the day of the attack. Even the police that usually would come to protect the synagogue did not show up that day.^{[5] [6] [7] [8]}

The useless investigation

The investigation undertaken after the attack did not bring any findings. One of the eyewitnesses of the attack – Leonardo Piperano from the Jewish community – said: “They asked me some general questions and let me go.”^{[9] [10] [11] [12]}

What do these facts say about antisemitism in the Italian government?

The discovery of these new documents is a great shock both for the Jewish community in Rome and for Jews all over the world. The fact that the Italian government decided to secretly sell the Jewish community in exchange for the protection of the rest of its citizens underlines that Jews were not considered part of the Italian nation. Italian Jews were considered even less than human beings whose right to live needed to be protected.

How can Italian Jews feel safe now in Italy? How can they be sure that something like this will not happen again? Will the Italian government pay for its actions? These and many more are the unanswered questions that rise from this terrible discovery.

This weekly comment was written by Ghila Amati and reflects her personal analyses and opinions, rather than those of EARS.

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^[1] N12 – קשר השתיקה של ממשלת רומא: העלימה עין מטרור פלסטיני

^[2] N12 – קשר השתיקה של ממשלת רומא: העלימה עין מטרור פלסטיני

^[3] N12 – קשר השתיקה של ממשלת רומא: העלימה עין מטרור פלסטיני

^[4] N12 – קשר השתיקה של ממשלת רומא: העלימה עין מטרור פלסטיני

^[5] Attentato alla Sinagoga di Roma del 1982, l’accusa del Riformista: “Il governo italiano sapeva che l’attacco ci sarebbe stato”

^[6] Attentato a Roma 1982: nuovi documenti confermano che il governo lasciò fare i terroristi – Mosaico

^[7] ​​Il sangue degli ebrei svenduto – ilGiornale.it

^[8] Attentato alla sinagoga di Roma del 1982: quello che ancora non sappiamo – la Repubblica

^[9] Attentato alla Sinagoga di Roma del 1982, l’accusa del Riformista: “Il governo italiano sapeva che l’attacco ci sarebbe stato”

^[10] Attentato a Roma 1982: nuovi documenti confermano che il governo lasciò fare i terroristi – Mosaico

^[11] ​​Il sangue degli ebrei svenduto – ilGiornale.i

^[12] Attentato alla sinagoga di Roma del 1982: quello che ancora non sappiamo – la Repubblica