Gianfranco Fini

Gianfranco Fini (1952-) is the speaker of the lower house of the Italian parliament and a leading figure in Silvio Berlusconi's Il Popolo della libertà party.Peter Popham, Gianfranco Fini: The best leader the Italian left never had, The Independent, 5 April 2009.
Fini became the leader of the Fascist Italian Social Movement in 1987. He transformed the party into the Alleanza Nazionale in 1994, before entering government for the first time. At the same time, he attempted to distance himself from Mussolini's regime:
::"I was born in 1952. I am a post-fascist and I hope that Italy stops talking about fascism and anti-fascism," he said.
::"I have said and I repeat that fascism made a mistake with its 1938 race laws. This had horrible consequences."Profile: Italy's post-fascist hopeful, BBC News, 18 November 2004.
Fini visited Auschwitz in 1999.Profile: Italy's post-fascist hopeful, BBC News, 18 November 2004.
In 2003, Fini visited Israel, where he met with Ariel Sharon.Profile: Italy's post-fascist hopeful, BBC News, 18 November 2004. The trip was endorsed by Alessandra Mussolini, the grand-daughter of Italy's World War Two dictator:
::Most analysts view Fini's visit to Israel as an attempt to obtain a stamp of approval for the party's claim that it has abandoned its fascist roots. But Mussolini said the visit is important mainly because of "the [terrorist] assault on Italy and Europe." The deaths of 19 Italian soldiers in a suicide bombing in Iraq and the recent terror attacks in Istanbul "make Italy Israel's ally," she explained. Referring to a recent survey that found Europeans view Israel as the No. 1 threat to world peace, Mussolini declared that Europe is not afraid of Israel, but of terrorism.Adi Schwartz, Mussolini: World should 'beg forgiveness of Israel', Haaretz, 24 November 2003.
Time magazine analysed the significance of the Israeli visit as follows:
::Eventually, he came to believe that the shortest path from marginal Mussolini nostalgic to mainstream political power was unwavering support for the state of Israel. The decisive moment came when Fini traveled to Israel in November 2003, declaring his affection for the Jewish state and his "shame" for Italy's racial laws under fascism. The following year, Silvio Berlusconi made him foreign minister, where the longtime leader of the National Alliance party stood out amongst his European partners for his pro-Israel policy.Jeff Israely, Italian Rightist Sparks Outrage, Time Magazine, 6 May 2008.
Fini sparked controversy in May 2008 by saying that burning of Israeli flags by left-wing protesters in Turin was much more serious than the savage beating of a 29-year-old by neo-Nazis in Verona the same day:Fini tried to explain himself by noting that he had prefaced his remarks by stating his "zero tolerance" for the neo-Nazi violence, but argued that the attack — which apparently began when the gang demanded Tommasoli's pack of cigarettes — was non-ideological in nature. He said the burning of Israeli flags, on the other hand, was evidence that "the radical left is a widespread political movement that gives life to political-religious prejudices."Jeff Israely, Italian Rightist Sparks Outrage, Time Magazine, 6 May 2008.
In May 2009, Fini attended a dinner at the home of Ambassador Gideon Meir for Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman:
::"I think that in light of the waves of immigration, we should also introduce a loyalty oath in Europe," Fini said. 
::Those present smiled in embarrassment, but Lieberman broke the ice: "You should know that when I said that in Israel, they wanted to hang me."Barak Ravid, Lieberman's Italian Job, 14 May 2009. 
==Notes==
Fini, Gianfranco