Majority summit on Board of Peace for Gaza and bill decree. Sources: "Measure in the Cdm on Wednesday"

Tajani stressed that Italia had been invited to participate as an observer and considered it 'appropriate' to participate because 'we want to be protagonists but as observers, as the European Commission will be'. A role, that of observers, chosen 'because Article 9 of the Board's statute is in conflict with the constitution'.

The Foreign Minister's communications have been set for Tuesday 17 February (in the Chamber at 1.30 p.m., in the Senate at 4.45 p.m. before the Foreign Affairs and Defence commissions) but it is not yet clear who will then fly to the US on Thursday: the most probable solution appears to be Tajani, but the hypothesis that Giorgia Meloni might decide to respond in person to Donald Trump's invitation is not ruled out. In the afternoon there will be a government summit at Palazzo Chigi attended by the Prime Minister and vice-premiers Matteo Salvini and Antonio Tajani.

"We cannot stay out of the reconstruction of Gaza, this is also a key to our presence as observers on the Board. And then it is right to be there because it is a further confirmation of the government's commitment to stabilising the Middle East,' said Tajani as reported by the Corriere della sera.

A choice that, however, the oppositions are strongly contesting. A little less than a month ago, at the crossroads of signing up to join the body created by Trump, there was also a confrontation between Meloni and the President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella: 'maximum consonance' and no membership, due to the incompatibility between the Board's statute and Article 11 of the Constitution. According to the premier, however, self-exclusion from this initiative is not smart, and so Italia has accepted the invitation to the first meeting with observer status. The situation is fluid.

At the top executive level, there are hours of delicate evaluations and comparisons, including with the European partners, studying the adhesions and the agenda for the Washington meeting. Once again, a shrewd balancing act is required: leaps forward with respect to the EU allies who are cold on the Board must be avoided, but also moves that might upset the White House. The role of observer suggests deploying the foreign minister, on paper the participation of the head of government would be oversized.

But in the Rome-Washington contacts in the coming hours the scenario could change. If the possibility of a face-to-face meeting with the US president were to open up, the mission would have a different weight. The last confrontation with Trump made public by Meloni dates back to about three weeks ago, when the premier made clear to the American president the"objective constitutional problems" of Italia joining the Board, asking him to "reopen its configuration".

Work is also underway on the text of Tajani's communications, which will be followed by a vote on the resolutions, so that the majority can give the political mandate to the executive. The decision to go to Parliament was taken by the government after a discussion between the minister himself and the prime minister. In the morning, Montecitorio and Palazzo Madama began contacts with the group leaders to schedule the appointment. With sources in the Senate Presidency noting 'the irritability' of the request for parliamentary passage made by the PD, M5s and Avs 'only in the press (almost as if it were more a petition of principle than an actual request)'.

Certainly the oppositions contest the choice of the executive to join Trump's initiative. "I wonder to what extent Meloni wants to humiliate the diplomatic tradition of this country in order not to displease Trump,' attacks Pd secretary Elly Schlein. 'What she is doing circumvents the Constitution, which says that Italia cannot participate in supranational bodies not on equal terms. Nicola Fratoianni, of Avs, warns the government against "bringing Italia to a place that has nothing to do with peace, a business committee and real estate speculation on Gaza while Israel violates the truce and continues with ethnic cleansing and apartheid". These are 'specious polemics', retorts Maurizio Lupi from the majority: 'Participating as observers,' argues the leader of Nm, 'does not pose constitutional problems, it keeps open an important channel for dialogue, including European dialogue, with the United States, it strengthens Italia's role on the international scene and, above all, it can be useful for accelerating the peace process in the Middle East, advancing the line of 'two peoples two states''.

It is reported that the parliamentary opposition is working on a united resolution against Italia's entry in any form into the Board of Peace, which could also be broadened with respect to the Pd-M5s-Avs core. There are also contacts underway with Iv and Più Europa. Action, which has reportedly been sounded out, is also against participation in the Board of Peace but has prepared its own resolution. The Calendians' document, already ready, commits the government 'not to participate in any form in the meetings of the Board of Peace; not to legitimise its activities, not even indirectly'. Another objective is for Italia to work "in agreement with the European Union and the other international partners so that the objectives initially indicated in the peace plan for Gaza after the release of the hostages - disarming Hamas, the transitional administration of a Palestinian committee under the supervision and international support of a US-led Board of Peace, the development and reconstruction of the Strip, the start of the process towards the construction of a Palestinian state - does not become an alibi for the business and predatory aims of Donald Trump, his associates and family members".