Binyamin Netanyahu, Matteo Renzi
Binyamin Netanyahu, Matteo RenziMarc Israel Sellem/POOL/Flash 90

Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi voiced fervent support for Israel in a speech before the Knesset on Wednesday afternoon, calling it "the nation-state of the Jewish people."

During his speech, which followed Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's, Renzi addressed his visit to Tel Aviv University the previous day, tying that in to a denouncement of the boycott movement against Israel. 

"Whoever boycotts Israel doesn’t understand that he is boycotting himself and doesn’t understanding that he is betraying his own future,” the Italian Prime Minister asserted.

Renzi also discussed a peace deal with the Palestinians, calling for the renewal of negotiations for a two-state solution.

"Peace will only be possible with two states for two peoples, and only if security is guaranteed for both peoples, along with the Palestinians’ right to self-definition and the right of the nation-state of the Jewish people to security," he contended. 

“Peace means that the Palestinians will have their nation-state and the Jews will have their nation-state," Renzi continued. “Recognizing Israel means recognizing reality…The existence of the State of Israel is not a gesture of the international community after the Holocaust, but a fact that predates any international agreement by hundreds of years…Israel exists despite the Holocaust not by virtue of the Holocaust.”

Renzi then attempted to send another reassuring message to Israel's government over the Iran deal, despite proclaiming his country's support for the agreement. 

“It is possible to disagree on the compromise with Iran, but there will never be any compromise regarding Israel’s future,” Renzi stressed. “Israel’s security is our security too.”