ROME (AP) — Italian voters on Monday rejected a judicial reform backed by conservative Premier Giorgia Meloni, delivering a stinging setback to the right-wing government one year ahead of national elections.
“Italian citizens have decided and we respect their decision as always,” Meloni said in a video posted on Instagram. She pledged, as anticipated, to complete her mandate, which runs into 2027.
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Ballots are counted at a polling station at the end of the vote for a referendum on judicial reform in Rome, Monday, March 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Ballots are counted at a polling station at the end of the vote for a referendum on judicial reform in Rome, Monday, March 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Votes are being counted for the referendum on judicial reform at a polling station in Milan, Italy, Monday, March 23, 2026 (Claudio Furlan/LaPresse via AP)
Votes are being counted for the referendum on judicial reform at a polling station in Milan, Italy, Monday, March 23, 2026 (Claudio Furlan/LaPresse via AP)
Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni casts her ballot in a referendum on judicial reform, in Rome, Monday, March 23, 2026. (Valentina Stefanelli/LaPresse via AP)
“We will move forward as we always have: with responsibility, determination, and above all, with respect for Italy and its people,” Meloni said, admitting some “regret for a missed opportunity to modernize Italy.”
The “No” camp won almost 54% of the vote against the government‑backed “Yes” campaign, which secured about 46%, according to final results released by the Interior Ministry.
Turnout over the two‑day ballot, which began Sunday, was considerably higher than expected at almost 59% following a polarizing campaign. It energized the center‑left opposition, which framed the reform as a threat to judicial independence, while simultaneously exposing divisions within Meloni’s right‑wing coalition.
The proposed judicial reform had been billed by Meloni’s coalition as a key step toward streamlining Italy’s judicial system — long criticized as slow, bureaucratic, and vulnerable to political influence.
But critics argued that the measures risked concentrating too much power in the executive branch. Opposition parties, civil society groups and legal associations mounted a unified front, warning that the reform could undermine institutional checks and balances.
With political tensions already running high, public debate intensified in the final weeks before the vote, turning it into a de facto confidence test on Meloni’s leadership itself.
The defeat, especially after a campaign so closely tied to her personal leadership, raises questions about the stability and cohesion of Meloni's governing coalition.
The stakes extend beyond Italy’s borders. The Italian premier faces growing scrutiny over her controversial alignment with U.S. President Donald Trump and his increasingly unpopular war on Iran.
“Italy has defied its reputation for government instability in recent years,” said Jess Middleton, senior Europe analyst at risk intelligence company Verisk Maplecroft. “This defeat punctures Meloni’s image of strength, weakening her status as a pillar of domestic stability and as a consistent player in an increasingly volatile European political landscape.”
Analysts also noted that the referendum win provides a major boost to the center-left opposition, with frustrations around the government’s performance on the economy and the war in the Middle East coming into focus throughout the campaign.
“The key question now is whether these disparate opposition forces can maintain some cohesion and present themselves as a credible alternative ahead of next year’s vote,” Middleton said.
Elly Schlein, leader of the center-left Democratic Party, hailed the referendum result and said opposition forces would remain united.
“We'll continue to work together and we'll build a real alternative to this government,” she said at a news conference celebrating the “No” victory.
Ballots are counted at a polling station at the end of the vote for a referendum on judicial reform in Rome, Monday, March 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Ballots are counted at a polling station at the end of the vote for a referendum on judicial reform in Rome, Monday, March 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Votes are being counted for the referendum on judicial reform at a polling station in Milan, Italy, Monday, March 23, 2026 (Claudio Furlan/LaPresse via AP)
Votes are being counted for the referendum on judicial reform at a polling station in Milan, Italy, Monday, March 23, 2026 (Claudio Furlan/LaPresse via AP)
Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni casts her ballot in a referendum on judicial reform, in Rome, Monday, March 23, 2026. (Valentina Stefanelli/LaPresse via AP)
LONDON (AP) — Four ambulances belonging to a Jewish charity were set on fire early Monday in London in what British police are investigating as an antisemitic hate crime. Detectives were working to determine whether a claim of responsibility from a group with alleged links to Iran was authentic.
Though it has not been classified as a terrorist incident, counterterror officers have been put in charge of the investigation. No one was injured in the nighttime attack, which shattered windows in nearby homes and left the vehicles charred shells.
Religious and political leaders condemned what Prime Minister Keir Starmer called a “horrific" antisemitic attack.
“Antisemitism has no place in our society and it’s really important that we all stand together at a moment like this,” said Starmer, who met Jewish community leaders at 10 Downing St. on Monday to discuss the response to the attack.
Officers were called to Golders Green, a north London neighborhood with a large Jewish population, after receiving reports of a fire, the Metropolitan Police force said. Four ambulances belonging to Hatzola Northwest, a volunteer organization that provides emergency medical response, were damaged, according to the London Fire Brigade.
Oxygen cylinders on the vehicles exploded, breaking windows in an adjacent apartment block. Nearby homes were evacuated as a precaution.
What appeared to be footage from a security camera showed three figures in black wearing hoods carrying a canister toward one of the ambulance before flames erupted around the vehicle. Police said they are looking for three suspects but no arrests have been made yet.
A video posted on Telegram, allegedly by an Islamist group called Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia, showed a map of the location where the ambulances were kept and footage of them on fire. A group of the same name, which translates as the Islamic Movement of the Companions of the Right, previously claimed responsibility for synagogue attacks in Belgium and the Netherlands.
Israel’s government has called it a recently founded group with suspected links to pro-Iran networks.
Police said they were aware of an online claim of responsibility and were working to establish its authenticity.
“Establishing the accuracy of this claim is a priority for the investigating team,” Security Minister Dan Jarvis said.
Mark Reisner, who lives in the neighborhood, heard loud explosions and arrived at the scene “just as the third ambulance was blowing up,” he told Sky News.
“A very loud explosion, you sort of felt it go through your guts,” he said, adding, “it's just left us all reeling with confusion and shock.”
The attack spread fear and alarm through Britain’s Jewish community, which feels increasingly vulnerable.
Shomrim, a nonprofit organization which operates a neighborhood watch in the area, condemned the attack on X as “a targeted and deeply concerning incident affecting a vital emergency service serving the local Jewish community.”
The number of antisemitic incidents reported across the U.K. has soared since Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel and Israel’s ensuing war against Hamas in Gaza, according to the Community Security Trust, which works to protect the Jewish community. The group recorded 3,700 incidents in 2025, up from 1,662 in 2022.
In October 2025, an attacker drove his car into people gathered outside a Manchester synagogue to celebrate the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur and stabbed one person to death. Another person died during the attack after being inadvertently shot by police.
Last week two men in London were charged with carrying out “hostile” surveillance last year of the U.K.’s Jewish community on behalf of Iran.
Some members of the community criticize Starmer's Labour Party government for failing to prevent pro-Palestinian demonstrations from tipping into anti-Jewish speech and acts.
Peter Zinkin, a Conservative politician who represents Golders Green on the local council, said the community felt “distress and anger.”
“Burning ambulances in the middle of the night is a disgrace,” he said. “And you have to ask yourself, why did it happen? And the reason I’m afraid that it happened is that the government and the media, particularly certain parts of the media, have validated antisemitism on a countrywide scale.”
Archbishop of Canterbury Sarah Mullally, the head of the Anglican Church, said “such acts of violence, hatred and intimidation have no place in our society.”
Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis called it a “sickening assault.”
“At a time when Jewish communities around the world are facing a growing pattern of these violent attacks, we will meet this moment with shared resolve and stand together against hatred and intimidation,” he wrote on X.
Associated Press writers Danica Kirka and Jill Lawless in London contributed to this report.
Forensics get ready to investigate the area in Goldedr Green in London, Monday, March 23, 2026 after an arson attack on four vehicles belonging to a Jewish ambulance service, Hatzola Northwest, in London.(AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)
View at burnt Ambulances in a car park at Golders Green in London, Monday, March 23, 2026 after an apparent arson attack on four vehicles belonging to a Jewish ambulance service, Hatzola Northwest, in London.(AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)
Burnt cars seen in Golders Green, London, England, Monday, March 23, 2026 after an apparent arson attack on four vehicles belonging to a Jewish ambulance service, Hatzola Northwest, in London. (Jonathan Brady/PA Wire/PA via AP)
Firefighters respond to a fire in Golders Green, London, Monday, March 23, 2026 after an apparent arson attack on four vehicles belonging to a Jewish ambulance service, Hatzola Northwest, in London.(AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)
A firefighter and a police officer look at a burnt Ambulance in Golders Green, London, Monday, March 23, 2026 after an apparent arson attack on four vehicles belonging to a Jewish ambulance service, Hatzola Northwest, in London.(AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)
A burnt car is seen in Golders Green, London, Monday, March 23, 2026 after an apparent arson attack on four vehicles belonging to a Jewish ambulance service, Hatzola Northwest, in London.(AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)
An officer from an emergency response unit watches a firefighter response team in London, Monday, March 23, 2026 after an apparent arson attack on four vehicles belonging to the Jewish ambulance service, Hatzola Northwest, in London.(AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)
A burnt car is seen in Golders Green, London, Monday, March 23, 2026 after an apparent arson attack on four vehicles belonging to a Jewish ambulance service, Hatzola Northwest, in London.(AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)
Firefighters and police officers respond to a fire in Golders Green, London, Monday, March 23, 2026 after an apparent arson attack on four vehicles belonging to a Jewish ambulance service, Hatzola Northwest, in London.(AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)
Firefighters respond to a fire in Golders Green, London, Monday, March 23, 2026, after a suspected arson attack on multiple vehicles belonging to a Jewish ambulance service, Hatzola Northwest, in London. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)
Firefighters respond to a fire in Golders Green, London, Monday, March 23, 2026 after an apparent arson attack on four vehicles belonging to a Jewish ambulance service, Hatzola Northwest, in London.(AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)
A police officer guards a road in London, Monday, March 23, 2026 after an apparent arson attack on four vehicles belonging to a Jewish ambulance service, Hatzola Northwest, in London.(AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)
Firefighters respond to a fire in Golders Green, London, Monday, March 23, 2026 after an apparent arson attack on four vehicles belonging to a Jewish ambulance service, Hatzola Northwest, in London.(AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)
Police blocks a road in London, Monday, March 23, 2026 after an apparent arson attack on four vehicles belonging to a Jewish ambulance service, Hatzola Northwest, in London.(AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)
Police blocks a road in London, Monday, March 23, 2026 after an apparent arson attack on four vehicles belonging to a Jewish ambulance service, Hatzola Northwest, in London.(AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)
