Italy Dismantles Surveillance Operation Targeting Jewish and Israeli Tourists Linked to Gaza Flotilla Group

In a concerning development, Italian authorities have dismantled an anonymous online campaign aimed at soliciting the public to disclose locations of Israeli tourists, Italian Jews, and businesses allegedly linked to Zionism. This initiative, reminiscent of dark historical times, has faced strong backlash from government officials and Jewish leaders, drawing parallels to the persecution of the fascist era.

“It feels like we’re reverting to the 1930s, a period marked by the hunting of Jews,” remarked Walker Meghnagi, President of the Jewish Community of Milan, in response to the circulation of the offensive Google form on social media platforms.

The form, purported to be a tool for “mapping Zionist tourism,” sought information on property acquisitions and what it dubbed as “Zionist neo-colonization” within Italy, according to various reports. It invited participants to pinpoint Jews, Israelis, and individuals perceived as associating with Zionism at various public locales, such as hotels and businesses.

Senate President Ignazio La Russa strongly condemned the movement, stating, “The online mapping of so-called ‘Zionist tourism,’ rightly criticized by Walker Meghnagi, is a grotesque act, flagrantly breaching fundamental human rights and the foundational constitutional principles of our country,” as translated.

“No form of cataloguing of persons on the basis of their religious belief or their connection with Israel is acceptable or justifiable. Behind all this lies a profound anti-Semitism that must be unanimously, firmly, and determinedly rejected,” he added. “We cannot remain motionless in the face of such serious facts that recall the ghosts of the past. To the Jewish Community all my closeness.”

The form was removed following the intervention of Gen. Pasquale Angelosanto, Italy’s national coordinator for the fight against antisemitism, according to Italian and Israeli media reports.

“This form is intended to record cases of Zionist tourism, property purchases, and, more generally, Zionist neo-colonization in Italy,” the questionnaire stated.

It said the information collected would be received by the Global Sumud Movement, an activist network associated with flotilla efforts to reach the Gaza Strip, and would remain confidential. Respondents were asked to provide sources so the reports could be verified and used to coordinate unspecified “initiatives.”

The Global Sumud Movement denied commissioning the form or knowing about it before the controversy erupted, according to The Jerusalem Post.

“Zionism is one of the issues we work on, but we do not hunt Jews, and we know nothing about this questionnaire,” the group told the Italian newspaper La Repubblica. “We did not commission it and had not even seen it before it was taken offline.”

The organization said it learned about the questionnaire through news reports and reserved the right to take further action, including issuing a formal statement.

According to La Repubblica, later sections of the form asked respondents to name locations where Jewish or Israeli visitors had been seen and to indicate whether local organizations or activist groups were already “managing the phenomenon.”

Meghnagi warned that collecting and circulating such information could encourage extremists to target Jews and Israelis.

“What is happening today shows that there are unbalanced individuals out there, and if this kind of message spreads widely enough, you are certain to find someone willing to act on it,” he said. “For this reason, mapping where Jews are is extremely serious.”

Alessandro Morelli, an Italian deputy secretary of state, ripped the form as “abhorrent” and said those responsible should not go unpunished.