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10 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 30 AUGUST 2026 FEATURE vision and ambition is not just a mor- al stance, it was a vision and ambition which gave us stature." When Malta stood tall Under Dom Mintoff, support for the Palestinians became a defining feature of Maltese foreign policy. Mintoff's language could be extraor- dinarily confrontational. During a 1973 meeting of the Socialist International in London, Mintoff had told Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir that if he had been Palestinian, he would have been a terror- ist. That language is difficult to transpose into today's political environment. But it demonstrated a willingness to absorb diplomatic costs in order to make a po- litical point. And this was not exclusively a Labour Party position. Guido de Marco, a leading Nationalist politician and later President of the UN General Assembly, also maintained a strong commitment to Palestinian rights. Schembri notes that de Marco gave a distinctive touch to his own party as a rare example of a European conservative party that unashamedly supported the anti-colonial struggle in Palestine. In 1990, as UN General Assembly pres- ident, de Marco faced Israeli opposition when he sought to visit the occupied ter- ritories. Israel initially refused entry to his delegation. De Marco did not back down, warning that the refusal could cause an international crisis, and eventually made the visit amid diplomatic friction. For Schembri, this demonstrated that being small did not have to mean being submissive. On the contrary, today, he believes Malta is using its small size as an excuse to hold back. "It is undeniable that over the past years there was a change in our attitude. We are not even playing with others," he says. Schembri is under no illusion that Mal- ta's size can be a matter of concern. But it can also be a powerful tool to be vocal about the need to respect international law. "Smallness is part of the equation but if we believe that, we should realise that our mission statement should be respect for international law. If you are small, you are more vulnerable in a world dominated by the law of the jungle," Schembri says. His conclusion is the opposite of the ar- gument that Malta should keep its head down. "It is in our own interest that pow- erful countries like Israel and the US are not allowed to do whatever pleases them." Nevertheless, Evarist Bartolo insists that Malta's response should not be to ignore its own interests. "I think that even in international rela- tionships we have to first and foremost consider the national interest; that of a small and vulnerable nation," he says. "But this is no excuse for not standing up to be counted on issues of principle." He says Malta was always a small coun- try even when Mintoff and de Marco were around. Pressures always existed, he says. "You need to navigate through these pressures as a small country but defend- ing the principles of sovereignty and in- ternational law because it is also in our interest as a small country." Bartolo succinctly adds: "I understand that we are a small country but neither should we make ourselves smaller by not being proactive on this issue." The pressure was there before Trump Still, one cannot easily ignore the argu- ment that taking a stand in favour of Pal- estinian rights can expose the country to outside pressures. And this is something that predates Trump. I recall interviewing an elder Maltese statesman during Israel's war on Lebanon in 2006. Off the record, he told me that the Americans, "let alone the Israelis", would not like what he was about to say. He said he would say it anyway, but asked me not to go overboard and to stick to his phrasing. The phrasing was clear enough but what stayed with me was not simply what he said, but the caution that preceded it. Senior Maltese politicians were con- scious of American and Israeli pressure even then. But the pressure did not necessarily pre- vent them from saying what they believed needed to be said. And maybe, it is this ability to say things as they are, using the right phrasing, that has been lost. The question raised by Bartolo and Schembri is whether today's political class has become less willing to absorb that pressure. Former President and Foreign Minister George Vella provides another example. Vella has spoken publicly of being treated as persona non grata by Israel when he questioned whether their treatment of Palestinians could be considered a form of ethnic cleansing. His experience is a reminder that Mal- tese politicians have faced consequences for taking positions critical of Israel be- fore. More recently, Maltese diplomat Va- nessa Frazier faced public attacks from Israeli officials. In June, Israel's UN am- bassador Danny Danon clashed with Fra- zier at a UN meeting on sexual violence in conflict, telling her to "be quiet" after she intervened during his criticism of a UN report concerning Israel. The episode is another reminder that the pressure surrounding Israel is not theoretical. Maltese representatives oper- ating internationally can themselves be- come targets when they challenge Israeli positions. Bartolo notes that Israel keeps track of which countries support its policies and which do not. "They definitely have a list of nations that are not supportive of their policy. Of course, they keep record of what we say. They react if they perceive consequences or ignore you if you are inconsequential," Bartolo says. From solidarity to economic normalisation Despite the hostility it generated in some quarters, Malta's pro-Palestinian stance represented continuity between the Mintoff and Fenech Adami eras. Support became more muted after Mal- ta joined the EU in 2004. But Schembri dates what he calls the "downward spiral" to the rise of Joseph Muscat. "I think the downward spiral started with Joseph Muscat when we started nor- malising our ties with Israel by seeking economic co-operation," he says. But he also ties this to the broader issue of political and moral backsliding. "Our politics in general became cynical and transactional and characterised by rent seeking," Schembri says. Muscat's 2013 visit to Israel marked a significant effort to deepen bilateral rela- tions, with cooperation pursued in health, tourism, agriculture, energy, research and technology, alongside progress on the Malta-Israel double-taxation agreement. It was also the first ever visit of a Maltese prime minister to Israel. But even Muscat's 2013 visit reflect- ed a balancing act, with Foreign Minis- ter George Vella accompanying him to Ramallah and maintaining Malta's tradi- tional political engagement with Pales- tine alongside closer economic ties with Israel. The question is whether economic in- terests gradually altered the political cal- culation in the years that followed. The economic factor Bartolo believes that economics played a part in this foreign policy shift. "Possibly at some stage a decision was A political class less willing to absorb Prime Minister Robert Abela and then Foreign Minister Ian Borg at the UN General Assembly in September Palestine (Photo: OPM) < FROM PREVIOUS PAGE