Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
03ROME5547
2003-12-11 14:19:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Rome
Cable title:  

ALL ROADS LEAD TO ROME; FINI'S RUNS THROUGH ISRAEL

Tags:  PGOV IT UN 
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This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
UNCLAS ROME 005547 

SIPDIS


SENSITIVE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV IT UN
SUBJECT: ALL ROADS LEAD TO ROME; FINI'S RUNS THROUGH ISRAEL

REF: TEL AVIV 6798

SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED; NOT FOR INTERNET DISTRIBUTION.

UNCLAS ROME 005547

SIPDIS


SENSITIVE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV IT UN
SUBJECT: ALL ROADS LEAD TO ROME; FINI'S RUNS THROUGH ISRAEL

REF: TEL AVIV 6798

SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED; NOT FOR INTERNET DISTRIBUTION.


1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Deputy Prime Minister and National
Alliance (AN) leader Gianfranco Fini's long-awaited visit
to Israel capped his years-long effort to wean AN from its
fascist roots and transform it into a mainstream,
democratic, "normal" party. While attracting support from
centrists and even some in the opposition, Fini's remarks
in Israel created hard feelings among militants and the
nostalgic in AN, who considered his statements an offense
to the party's legacy. Fini's position in the party is not
for the moment in danger; if anything, his Italian
political star shines even more brightly. His goal is to
create a single center-right party, with the obvious
thought of one day being its leader. In the meantime,
Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's brief absence from the
public fueled renewed rumors of possible cancer, reopening
debate on who his successor might be -- at a most
propitious time for his Deputy Prime Minister. END SUMMARY


2. (U) During his November 24-27 visit to Israel, Fini
condemned fascism, racism, and anti-Semitism in a speech at
Yad Vashem. He said that all must take responsibility for
and condemn the Holocaust, not only the executioners but
also those who stood by and watched, letting racial laws
take their course. Accepting responsibility not only
provides closure with the past, but also paves the way for
the future. In the future, Fini said, no one could deny
his/her role in racism and anti-Semitism, or seek others to
blame. The Deputy Prime Minister concluded that all should
take responsibility. In response to a press question, Fini
said he had changed his mind about Mussolini's being a
great statesman. Fascism, he declared, was the absolute
evil.


3. (SBU) Fini's renunciation of fascism earned accolades
on the center-left and among at least a few centrist or
left-leaning "normal voters" with whom we've spoken. It
also generated considerable consternation in AN's right
fringe. Three currents coexist within AN. The party's
"Social Right" movement references AN's traditions,
populism, and a degree of nationalism. The "Leading Right"
promotes rightist views on federalism and Europe, as well
as development of Italy's south. The "New Alliance" (the
Fini wing) seeks to strengthen the Deputy Prime Minister's
profile in a mainstream democratic party capable of

reaching contemporary voters and to pave the way for Fini
as a future Prime Minister. The Fini faction, usually with
the support of the Leading Right, contemplates AN's
eventual merger into a single party of the center-right;
the Social Right has no interest in such a merger.


4. (SBU) Following Fini's statements in Israel,
Parliament Deputy Alessandra Mussolini -- granddaughter to
Italy's World War II fascist dictator, who has little
independent political following -- resigned from the party
over the "offense to her grandfather's name." Lazio
Regional President Francesco Storace, Social Right faction
leader and AN co-founder with Fini, saw an opportunity to
appeal to the party's "base" of believers in the "ancien
regime." (NOTE: The most die-hard fascists arguably did
not follow AN when it was created from the Italian Social
Movement (MSI) in 1994. Rather, they remained with the
small, far-right Tricolor Flame Italian Social Movement,
another fascist inheritor. END NOTE.) On December 3,
Storace held a convention (planned before Fini's Israel
trip) and announced that, while he had no intention of
splitting AN or giving birth to a new internal current, he
would create the "Storace List" to bring together party
members who do not agree with Fini's line. At the same
time Storace asked for an AN National Congress to be held
before 2004 European elections to discuss party platform
and leadership. Interestingly, shortly thereafter, fellow
Social Right leader and Agricultural Minister Gianni
Alemmano (and others) dissented from the idea of a party
congress.


5. (U) On November 29-30, the Leading Right faction held
a convention in Arezzo. The convention opened with a
discussion of Fini's trip to Israel and subsequent intra-
party polemics. A debate on the future of the center-right
coalition followed. Participants largely joined in calling
for a unified party of the center-right, with the first
step being a unified list for European elections.


6. (SBU) Meanwhile, Fini called for a National Assembly
to be held on December 23 to test party consensus. (The
proposed convention has since been postponed at least until
January.) His intention would be to create a "restraining
belt" around Storace by gaining the consensus of all three
components of AN, including Storace's own Social Right.
Fini already succeeded in verifying that Storace's move was
not, for the moment, supported by Agriculture Minister
Alemanno. Fini has used this strategy in the past,
maintaining his primacy as the party's only leader with
national recognition and appeal.


7. (SBU) While AN's internal foment fermented, PM
Berlusconi was struck with what we have consistently been
told was a case of gastrointestinal flu. His illness
caused him to cancel, inter alia, a trip to India at the
head of the EU Troika and several other major public
functions. The Prime Minister has survived prostate
cancer, and this illness -- as have others in the past --
prompted speculation that he might be suffering a
recurrence of the cancer. Such ruminations bring the
inevitable question of "who after Berlusconi for the center-
right." With the extensive, and generally positive, public
attention garnered from his Israel trip, such a question,
macabre or no, could hardly have come at a better time for
DPM Fini.


8. (SBU) COMMENT: Fini has worked hard to prove his
institutional credentials and enhance his image as a future
prime minister. Indeed, his renunciation of fascism and
the Holocaust succeeded in winning him the praise and
support of some center-left politicians and at least a few
centrist or left-leaning voters. His trip to Israel was
the long-awaited (ten years in the making) confirmation of
his, and AN's, emergence from their post-fascist shroud.
The makeover of AN to a mainstream, democratic, center-
right party brings inevitable tensions, but senior AN
figures are aware that a split would not enhance the
party's national standing. Storace can be expected to
challenge his one-time boss and ally for party leadership,
but Fini undoubtedly holds more cards. We predict he will
keep the party together, with him at the helm, at least
until the European elections. It is unlikely he and like-
minded colleagues will succeed in the vision of a united
center-right prior to those elections, however -- not a
single electoral list, much less a single party. At that
time, the electors will give their views on the direction
of the Deputy PM's future. END COMMENT.
SEMBLER


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2003ROME05547 - Classification: UNCLASSIFIED