In the incandescent climate that has been created between the Italian government and Tel Aviv, it is interesting to show what our commercial relations are and what, in concrete terms, Israel’s weight is in the economic geography ofItaly. Beyond the political temperature, the data shows a lively commercial relationship, concentrated on sectors with medium and high technological content, with a balance clearly in favor of Rome.
The commercial exchange between Italy And Israel is approaching 5 billion euros. In 2025, according to data reported byItalian Trade Agency of Tel Aviv, Italian exports to Israel amounted to 3.535 billion euros, while imports from the Israeli economy stood at 1.036 billion, with a strong trade surplus for theItaly.
Business geopolitics resists diplomatic crisis
The most interesting fact is that, despite the war and diplomatic tensions, economic relations have not been interrupted. Italian imports from Israel they actually grew by 2.8% in 2025 compared to 2024, while Italian exports to Israel they fell by just 0.3%, but remained 4.77% above 2023 levels. In other words, the political crisis did not produce a corresponding freeze in trade.
On the Italian side, Israel it is above all an outlet market for industrial goods and for qualified segments of Made in Italy. The largest item of Italian exports is that of machinery and equipment, which in 2025 represented approximately 17.2% of the total, followed by food products with 14.5% and products of manufacturing activities with 11.5%.
Alongside civil machinery, they are included in Italian exports to Israel also weapon systems and dual use components, the result of industrial and cooperation agreements in the defense sector, which are intertwined with collaboration in the fields of cyber and surveillance technologies.
What Israel sells to Italy: the surge in military supplies
On the import side, Israel it is not so much a supplier of large volumes as of products and technologies that penetrate deeply into Italian economic life. The structure of Israeli exports toItaly It mainly includes basic chemicals, fertilizers, medical technologies, IT solutions, electronic components and goods related to industrial innovation.
What is also striking, however, is the recent dynamics of some very sensitive voices. Between 2023 and 2025, Italian imports of weapons and ammunition from Israel they grew by 335.65%, going from 16.56 million euros to over 72 million, and in 2025 this category jumped from ninth to fourth place among the chapters of Italian imports from Israel.
The name best known to the Italian public is Tevathe Israeli generic drug giant, present in Italy with a commercial branch in the Milan area and a production network spread across Lombardy and Piedmont. Through pharmacies, hospitals and healthcare distributors, Teva places on the Italian market a large catalog of equivalent and specialist medicines, which cover numerous therapeutic areas, from cardiovascular to gastrointestinal, up to antivirals and other widely used drugs.
From mass consumer goods to invisible B2B supply chains
But Teva it is not the only Israeli brand that meets the Italian consumer. It is present in the home and DIY sector Keterlarge manufacturer of garden furniture, cabinets and resin containers, also distributed in Italy through the subsidiary Keter Italy. They appear in the wellness and cosmetics sectors Ahavaa brand linked to products based on Dead Sea minerals, e Sabonspecialized in body care and home fragrance, with a presence in Italian boutiques and retail channels.
Israeli agri-food also arrives regularly Italyalthough often with less visibility to the general public. Among the most recurring products are fresh fruit and vegetables, peppers, aromatic herbs, citrus fruits, dates and tahini, which enter the European market with standardized certifications of origin and are then distributed through importers, fruit and vegetable markets and large-scale retail trade. For those who look at the origin of goods from a critical consumer perspective, the essential point is precisely this: part of the Israeli presence on the Italian market does not always present itself with an immediately recognizable brand, but passes through long supply chains, European importers and intermediate commercial brands.
Finally there is the less visible but economically more important level, that of business-to-business supplies. Israel it is very present in Italy through software, cyber-security, sensors, precision agriculture solutions, biomedical equipment and energy technologies; among the mentionable names is Check Point Softwarealso active on the Italian market in corporate IT security. In this case the consumer often does not see the final product, but Israeli technology still enters digital infrastructures, data protection systems, medical devices and parts of advanced manufacturing.
A selective relationship within technological and strategic niches
To understand the relative weight of Israeljust compare the data with the large European partners of theItaly. Trade with Germany well exceeds 150 billion euros, while that with France is around 100 billion; compared to these numbers, the approximately 5 billion with Israel make it a significantly smaller partner on a quantitative level.
This means that Israel it is not a pillar of Italian foreign trade in the sense in which Berlin and Paris are. But it also means that its weight is concentrated in specific and often sensitive segments, such as pharmaceutical, chemical, cyber, biomedical, agro-tech, energy and, increasingly clearly, the military and dual use sectors. The commercial relationship with Tel Aviv, therefore, should be read less as a question of critical mass and more as a selective relationship within technological and strategic supply chains.
Some Israeli brands and products featured in Italy:
- Teva: generic drugs and specialty medicines distributed through pharmacies, hospitals and healthcare channels.
- Keter: garden furniture, wardrobes and resin containers for the home, hardware and DIY channel.
- Ahava: cosmetics and skincare based on Dead Sea minerals, present in perfumeries and online.
- Sabon: body products and home fragrances, with points of sale and retail distribution.
- SodaStream: domestic carbonators and systems for preparing sparkling water at home, distributed for years in large-scale retail trade and electronics chains.
- Fruit and vegetables, citrus fruits, dates, tahini and other agri-food products imported through distributors and operators in the European supply chain.
- Software solutions, cyber-security and industrial technologies, including services from companies such as Check Point Software.
