The head of the armed forces of Italy landed in Israel on Tuesday for his second official visit this year.
Admiral Giuseppe Cavo Dragone is in Israel until Thursday as an official guest of his Israeli counterpart Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, the Israel Defense Forces’ spokesperson department tweeted on Wednesday. During his visit, Dragone was briefed on Israel’s security situation, especially on its northern front, and spoke with Halevi on military cooperation between Israel and Italy, according to the IDF.
Dragone’s previous visit to Israel was in January, as “part of a series of initiatives implemented by Italy to promote a progressive easing of the current crisis and prevent its further spread,” according to the Italian Defense Ministry. The statement noted that Italy has about 1,000 troops serving in Lebanon as part of the UNIFIL mission to the country’s south.
Italy has consistently expressed its support for Israel in the wake of Hamas’s Oct. 7 massacre. During the G7 meeting in June, Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said, “We need to remember who started all this, and it wasn’t Israel.”
