ROME -- The leader of the Five Star Movement (M5S), Luigi di Maio, left for a week-long trip to Israel and the Palestinian West Bank on Thursday with the aim of making his position known to prominent Middle-Eastern leaders. He also hopes to gain access to the Gaza Strip, which was denied to Spanish leader Pablo Iglesias two years ago.

 The trip is seen as important for establishing the radical party’s international credibility especially as raucous party founder and comedian Beppe Grillo was accused in the past of making anti-semitic remarks in his foul-mouthed speech to followers.

 Di Maio’s visit to the Middle East proceeds his planned journey to America in September which will also allow him to prove his position to key political figures on a worldwide scale. Through both these trips, he hopes to establish himself as a contender for Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi’s position in the next national elections.

 Di Maio’s visit to Israel will enable key Middle Eastern leaders to understand who he is and why Italian electoral polls have placed him at the top of the competition for the job of Prime Minister. He left accompanied by his parliamentary colleagues Manlio Di Stefano and Ornella Bertorotta. The politicians will try, as neutrally as possible, to approach the Arab-Israeli question, and will meet representatives from the public services as well as the most influential humanitarian organisations who are involved in the mediation of the conflict. They will also have discussions with both the Israeli and Palestinian authorities.

 One question which has not yet been answered is whether Di Maio and his colleagues will receive authorisation to enter the Gaza Strip. The request has been made, but access is difficult to achieve, as is proven by the events of two years ago when Spanish politician and leader of the political party Podemos, Pablo Iglesias, was denied authorisation to enter.

 Access to the Gaza Strip would be the pinnacle of Di Maio’s visit to the Middle East, but there are several other key points to his trip. In Israel, these include visits to the World Holocaust Remembrance Center, Yad Vashem, as well as entrance to Israel’s parliament, the Knesset. In Tel Aviv, the M5S delegation will meet with representatives of ‘Breaking the Silence,’ the NGO which collects testimonies of soldiers and war veterans involved in the conflict, as well as ‘Parents Circle,’ a group of parents who campaign for peace to be established between Israel and Palestine.

 Di Maio and his colleagues will also meet with Israeli writers Abraham Yehoshua and Etgar Keret, as well as representatives from the NGOs responsible for the care of refugees in the Aida refugee camp in Palestine. They will then visit the Palestinian cities of Ramallah and Hebron, as well as Jerusalem and Bethlehem, finishing their journey on Tuesday.

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