Italy Dismantles Online Tracking Campaign Targeting Israeli Tourists and Jewish Citizens

Authorities in Italy have dismantled an anonymous online questionnaire designed to document the whereabouts of Israeli tourists, Italian Jews, and individuals with alleged connections to Zionism throughout the country. The removal of the form followed swift intervention by Gen. Pasquale Angelosanto, Italy’s national coordinator for combating antisemitism, and sparked widespread denunciation from political leaders and Jewish community representatives.

The questionnaire requested public submissions identifying Jews, Israelis, and Zionism-connected persons at hotels, rental properties, businesses, and public venues. According to reports, the form claimed to map “Zionist tourism,” property transactions, and what organizers characterized as “Zionist neo-colonization” activities within Italy, asking respondents to provide verified sources for their reports and specify whether activist groups were already monitoring these locations.

Walker Meghnagi, president of the Jewish Community of Milan, equated the initiative to historical persecution, stating: “I think we’re going back to the 1930s, to hunting Jews.” He warned that compiling and distributing such targeting information could embolden extremists to harm Jewish and Israeli individuals, emphasizing the serious consequences of mapping Jewish locations.

Senate President Ignazio La Russa condemned the effort as fundamentally incompatible with Italian constitutional values and human rights protections. “No form of cataloguing of persons on the basis of their religious belief or their connection with Israel is acceptable or justifiable,” La Russa wrote, adding that the initiative reflected “profound anti-Semitism” requiring unanimous rejection and warning against remaining passive toward threats echoing historical atrocities.

The form indicated that collected data would be transmitted to the Global Sumud Movement, an activist network associated with flotilla initiatives targeting the Gaza Strip. However, the organization denied commissioning the questionnaire or possessing prior knowledge of its existence, telling the Italian newspaper La Repubblica: “We did not commission it and had not even seen it before it was taken offline,” while reserving the right to issue formal statements and pursue additional action regarding the matter.

Alessandro Morelli, deputy secretary of state for Italy, characterized the form as “abhorrent” and demanded accountability for those responsible. His remarks aligned with broader government responses emphasizing that such tracking efforts represent unacceptable violations of fundamental rights and protections under Italian law.