Fiamma Nirenstein
Fiamma NirensteinFiamma Nirenstein

Italian journalist and Parliament Member Fiamma Nirenstein says she won’t run for re-election at the Chamber of Deputies. Instead, she’s moving to Israel.

Nirenstein, who was written numerous op-ed pieces for Arutz Sheva, announced her decision to make aliyah and return to her previous career as a journalist, “the two best things I’ve ever met in my life,” in an interview with the Il Giornale newspaper last week.

“I want to come back to Israel and also to apply for citizenship,” she told the newspaper. “I take this step after many years, for many good reasons.” Nirenstein has often come to Israel, most recently as a member of a solidarity delegation during Operation Pillar of Defense, Israel's counter terror offensive to silence the rocket fire from Gaza directed against southern Israel.

She noted that as a correspondent in past years, she had the chance to travel all over the world, and noted that the Middle East has become a more important issue as the years have passed. “I really feel like going back to take care of it, and play my concert on my PC keyboard,” she commented.

Five years in Parliament have not disappointed her, she added, but her two “loves of her life,” journalism and Israel, proved to be the stronger call at the end of the day.

“On January 27 it will be the International Holocaust Remembrance day, and everybody can see that unfortunately anti-Semitism is still growing worldwide, and Israel is the only warm homeland for the Jewish People.

“Moreover, I believe that Israel is today the best country able to offer culture, sociality, democracy, morality,” she added, “a country where people adopted a lifestyle simple and natural, where people is a family united in their fight for survival and in their great love for their country.

“Love for life in Israel is everywhere,” Nirenstein declared.

Currently a Vice President of the Italian Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs, Nirenstein also serves as Chair of the Committee for the Inquiry into Anti-Semitism in the Italian Chamber of Deputies, and is Chairperson of the International Council of Jewish Parliamentarians.