
Claim: Italian PM Giorgia Meloni vowed to arrest Benjamin Netanyahu if he enters Italy in accordance with the warrant issued by the International Court of Justice.
Conclusion: The claim is misleading. PM Giorgia Meloni did not make any such statement, rather it was Defense Minister Guido Crosetto who said it in November, 2024.
Rating: Misleading —
Recently several social media users have claimed that Italian PM Giorgia Meloni vowed to Arrest Netanyahu if he steps into Italy. Verified X user ‘_MegaPolitics’ posted such a claim with the caption: “Italian PM meloni says she will arrest Netanyahu if he enters the country.”
The post made on 13 September, 2025 gained around 1.3 million views. View the post below:
Breaking:
Italian PM meloni says she will arrest Netanyahu if he enters the country. pic.twitter.com/2QUGjhdg4N
— Mega-Politics (@_MegaPolitics) September 13, 2025
Another X user shared the same claim here:
Breaking:
Italian PM meloni says she will arrest Netanyahu if he enters the country. pic.twitter.com/FC5Bvz9dz7
— Middle East Spectator (@Middle_East_S) September 14, 2025
Other users have also made such claims which can be viewed here, here and here
FACT CHECK
DigitEYE India decided to investigate this claim and found that it is misleading. We first searched for any official statements or footage to confirm if Italian PM Giorgia Meloni made such a claim. No credible news outlets reported Meloni’s statement on this as she has avoided any direct commitment on arrests.
After coming across no official statement, we further searched and found Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto’s comments. A report by Daily Sabah published on 21st November, 2024 captures Crosetto’s statement when he said if Netanyahu “were to come to Italy, we would have to arrest them.”
Italian PM Giorgia Meloni did not make such a statement in any manner but it was her Defense Minister Guido Crosetto who said it in November, 2024 stating that Italy, as an International Criminal Court (ICC) signatory, would be “obliged” to arrest Netanyahu if he visits Italy.
View a snippet from the report below:
Another report published by The Times of Israel has also reported Crosetto’s statement. Other media outlets including NDTV and Deccan Herald have also written about this.
Upon searching for recent news and updates about Italy’s stance on arresting Benjamin Netanyahu, we learned that Italy was against it. A report, published by The Times of Israel on 15th January 2025, wrote how Italy reassured Israeli officials that Netanyahu would not be arrested under the ICC warrant during his visits. View a snippet from the article below:
This reversal followed internal debates, with Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani questioning the warrants’ practicality in December 2024. According to a news report by i24 News, Italy aligned with France in rejecting enforcement of arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, offering diplomatic immunity from prosecution.
Official Italian government websites and Meloni’s X account show no such statement as claimed. No credible outlets too reported any recent announcements by Meloni on this issue. Thus, the claim is misleading.
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