Gianfranco Fini's Visit to Israel

Gianfranco Fini, head of the Italian political party National Alliance, the historical direct successor to Mussolini's Fascist Party and a participant in the current Italian governing coalition, visited the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial in Israel this week. Fini is generally credited, even by Italy's Communist Party, with having successfully transformed the National Alliance into a genuinely democratic conservative party. (Spanish president José María Aznar is given credit for a similar achievement as leader of the ruling People's Party in Spain, the successor party to Francisco Franco's Falangists.)

This article from the liberal Israeli paper Ha'aretz reports on Fini's visit. Making history without remorse (Ha'aretz online 11/29/03). The article discusses how Fini had been expected to make an explicit apology for Italian participation in the Holocaust. But he avoided that formulation, in part because other political parties in Italy objected to his making such a statement on their behalf:

<< The fascist militants [in Italy] were insulted in the name of Mussolini and his "genuine" heirs. On the other side, the old-time partisans, leftists and Jewish representatives refused to allow Mussolini's heirs to apologize on their behalf for crimes against which the anti-fascist camp fought. >>

The article notes that, despite criticism of that aspect of Fini's visit, there was much to commend in the positions he took while in Israel:

<< At a press conference held after the visit to Yad Vashem ... Fini agreed, while answering a question to denounce the Salo Republic [German puppet regime, 1943-45] and to include it in the definition of "one of the disgraceful chapters in the history of our people."

<< In  response to another question, he even agreed to recoognize fascism as "absolute evil." Even if these statements were not included in his speech at Yad Vashem, they cannot be ignored. >>

The article also notes that Fini's statements in Israel may cause a rift in the National Alliance party, and that the fact that "Alessandra Mussolini (the dictator's granddaughter) was resigning from Fini's party may be an indication that a major rift is in the offing."