During his first official trip to Rome, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was filmed telling the Italian Prime Minister what to say before a joint press conference. Referencing Western demands that the Palestinian group Hamas recognize the Jewish state of Israel, Olmert told Prodi, “It is important that you emphasize the three principles of the Quartet - that they are not negotiated. They are the basis for everything.” Prime Minister Prodi then delivered words to that effect.

During the conference, Olmert underlined how Israel and Italy were working hard to “preserve peace and maintain Lebanon’s integrity”. Italy’s new unified stance with Israel seems to contradict Prodi’s visit to Egypt last month, when he said he was open to dialogue with Iran and Syria to develop a more stable Middle East.

Israeli PM Olmert has hypocritically called on the international community to stop Iran from building nuclear weapons as Iran and Arab states demanded UN action against Israel, after Olmert’s recent admittance that Israel has nuclear weapons.

Before his Rome visit, Olmert marked a Berlin trip by seeming to confirm that Israel has the Middle East’s only nuclear weapons � a reversal of a Israel’s previous policy of “strategic ambiguity” on nuclear arms.

An Olmert spokeswoman denied that he had changed this policy, but opposition politicians still asked for his resignation.

Also during the Rome trip, Olmert called on other countries to coordinate efforts to stop Iran from building nuclear weapons.

Western governments, including the US and Britain, have expressed concern that Iran’s uranium enrichment program is being used to produce material for a nuclear weapon. Iran insists its program is for civilian use.

Olmert hopes to convince Italy to back sanctions against Iran’s nuclear program.

He said they both agreed that “coordinated efforts are needed to stop Iran from becoming a nuclear power”.

During his pre-press conference prep talk with Olmert, Prodi agreed to endorsed Israel�s exclusionary vision to remain a Jewish state, which rules out the possibility of giving equal rights to non-Jewish citizens. “You said something about a Jewish state [in the past]. I know that,” Olmert verified with Prodi beforehand. During the actual conference, Prodi again fell in line, saying he wanted to preserve the Jewish identity of Israel. Olmert then said he was “touched” by Prodi’s speech. Olmert and Prodi aides had no comment on the footage.

Eyal Arad, the political strategist for Olmert�s Kadima party, said he travelled to Rome a few days before Olmert to launch Kadima Italia, a party �that aims to educate civilian society and Italian institutions on issues of peace in Middle East security�. Arad also said that moderate governments in the Middle East also pose a threat “because someone is trying to sow the seeds of extremism in Lebanon, Palestine, and Iraq”. Gee, I wonder who that someone is.

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