Rome, April 15, 2026 – ReCommon condemns ENI’s decision to file yet another frivolous lawsuit against the association in an attempt to silence its representatives. This is a clear-cut SLAPP lawsuit that opens up a new legal dispute just days after the conclusion—via a mediation agreement—of the case that ENI had previously filed against ReCommon campaigner Antonio Tricarico.
Last March, ENI’s lawyers served ReCommon with a request to initiate mandatory civil mediation for alleged defamation aggravated by the use of television and social media, arising from statements made by Eva Pastorelli in her capacity as a representative of ReCommon during the program Report, which aired on Rai 3 on December 14, 2025, and were repeated in the article published on the association’s website on December 18, 2025, and in the subsequent response on February 5, 2026. According to ENI, the value of the dispute it intends to initiate is €800,000, and ReCommon’s “defamatory” statements should be removed as they allegedly fuelled feelings of hatred and hostility toward ENI and its employees, even seriously endangering the safety of workers operating in Italy and abroad, as well as their families.
The mandatory mediation follows a similar formal notice with a request for correction sent in early January, to which ReCommon responded in detail on its website.
During her appearance on the television program Report, Eva Pastorelli stated that “ENI has two partnerships with Israeli companies or institutions: the first with the Israeli Ministry of Energy, which on October 29, 2023, awarded exploration licenses off the coast of Gaza to two consortia of national energy companies. ENI established its second partnership with an Israeli company named Delek Group, which was blacklisted by the United Nations because it operates in the Occupied Palestinian Territories and does so illegally.”
ReCommon reiterated that the claims regarding the awarding of exploration licenses for Block G were supported by a statement published on the Israeli Ministry of Energy’s website and in the press (Times of Israel and Reuters), the association had also reported in an article on its website ENI’s stated intention, in response to a request from Report, “not to be involved in activities in the area in the future.”
In late March, an article published in the Israeli financial daily Globes reported that ENI had withdrawn from the consortium formed for exploration activities in the section of the Mediterranean Sea within the Palestinian exclusive economic zone. When asked by various media outlets, the Italian multinational confirmed the news, stating the following: “ENI confirms its withdrawal from the consortium awarded ‘Block G,’ decided as part of the rationalization and strategic diversification of its upstream activities, and acknowledges the decision of the other consortium members to complete the awarding process”
Regarding ENI’s relationship with the Delek Group, ReCommon has already reiterated that the term “blacklist” has been used repeatedly in journalistic contexts, and that in any case, the list compiled by the United Nations High Commission for Human Rights includes the Delek Group itself and highlights how the Israeli company’s activities have “raised particular concerns regarding human rights.”
“ENI seems intent on maintaining its lead in Europe for the number of reckless lawsuits, leveling serious and unfounded accusations against us with the aim of silencing the association’s reporting on issues of indisputable public interest. All this for having reported irrefutable data, including statements from ENI itself! We will not be silenced; we will continue to voice the concerns and stories of the communities impacted by ENI’s extraction activities, in Palestine and wherever else they are needed,” stated Eva Pastorelli of ReCommon.
At this point, with the mediation phase concluded, ReCommon is prepared to face a potential new lawsuit filed by ENI.
