Fiamma Nirenstein (born 18 December 1945 in Florence) is an Italian-Israeli journalist, author and politician. In 2008 she was elected to the Italian Parliament for Silvio Berlusconi's The People of Freedom party and she served as Vice President of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the Chamber of Deputies for the length of the legislature, ending in March 2013. On 26 May 2013 she immigrated to Israel (made Aliyah). In 2015, Nirenstein was nominated by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as the future ambassador to Italy, but subsequently withdrew for what she stated were personal reasons. She is Senior Fellow of Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs (JCPA) and currently works there, at the Israeli-based think-tank of JPCA. She writes for the Italian right-wing daily Il Giornale and contributes articles in English to the Jewish News Syndicate. She is also on the Board of ISGAP and of the WJC.
She lives now in Jerusalem with frequent visits to Italy.
Background
Nirenstein's father, , came to Italy as part of the Jewish brigade. There he met his future wife , who was a partisan in the resistance. Nirenstein's parents, as distinguished journalists, were remembered in Italy with the title of the in Florence which in 2019 was called "Giardino Wanda Lattes and Alberto Nirenstein". She grew up in a Florentine Jewish family with different political views. She first visited Israel in 1966, and returned, taking up residence in the Neot Mordechai kibbutz on the eve of the Six Day War, when Israel conquered the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. On her return to Italy she joined the communist party and began her career as a journalist. In the debates that ensued in the wake of the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982 - when Nirenstein signed a letter of protest - she found herself in disagreement with fellow communists who considered that Israel had become an occupying power. She came round to the view that Israel had gained nothing from its withdrawal from that country. In 1993 and 1994 Nirenstein directed the Cultural Institute of the Italian Embassy in Tel Aviv.
Political career
In Italy
Silvio Berlusconi and his ally, Gianfranco Fini, the former leader of Alleanza Nazionale, Italy's conservative party, invited Nirenstein to become a candidate for their joint list Il Partito della Liberta ("The Party of Liberty") for the April 2008 national elections. During her campaign for a seat in Liguria, she did not talk at rallies about local issues, but rather concentrated on expounding her belief that Israel was in the vanguard of Western democracies in the battle against Islamic terrorism. In her view, the most important thing for Italians in grasping their national identity was to stand by the side of Israel. In general, through her political career, Nirenstein aimed to contribute to an anti-terrorist, pro-Israeli and Atlantic Alliance, which advocated the values of the culture of human rights.
Elected Member of the Italian Parliament, she served as Vice President of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the Chamber of Deputies for the entire XVIth legislature, ending in March 2013. She was also a member of the Italian delegation to the Council of Europe, where she represented Italy in the Network for the fight against violence on children. Nirenstein also established and chaired the Committee for the Inquiry into Antisemitism of the Italian Parliament. During her parliamentary activity, she had a particular focus on Israel, human rights, international controversies, democratization in the Middle East and awareness of Iran's nuclear capabilities.
Among the most significant activities during her parliamentary activity there are the letter to the Ambassador of Syria in Italy, Khaddur Hasan, to stop the repression of the Assad regime, signed by 50 parliamentarians belonging to all political groups and various parliamentary questions including the question to the Foreign Affairs Committee of May 4, 2011 on the ongoing repression in Syria.
Professional career as journalist and writer
Nirenstein is an expert of the Middle East conflicts, terrorism, anti-Semitism, human rights and her activities deals with the great changes that are taking place within the Middle East democratization process. The pivotal focus and underlying idea that runs through all Fiamma Nirenstein's work is the fight against totalitarianism and terrorism as connected to antisemitism and hate for Israel.