‘Israelis not welcome’: Milan Jews rattled by surge in antisemitic incidents

On June 26, Afshin Kaboli woke up to a flood of WhatsApp messages from personal contacts and group chats with fellow members of Milan’s Jewish community.

During the night, unknown individuals had put up dozens of posters around the city’s Jewish neighborhoods reading, in broken English, “Israeli not welcome.” Some were hung a few hundred yards from the community’s Jewish school on the same block where Kaboli, 54, lives and runs a kosher bakery.

“I went to check and found the posters in two spots in the neighborhood, even though, by the time I arrived, some of them had already been removed,” Kaboli told The Times of Israel via telephone.

“It made me feel awful,” he said. “The atmosphere has been heavy these past few months. But finding something like this just 200 meters [650 feet] from my home really makes me think. I always thought these things happened in France or other countries, not in Milan.”

The city is home to a community of about 7,000 Jews. Despite its small size, the community boasts at least a dozen active synagogues, three Jewish schools, and several kosher restaurants and grocery stores.

For Kaboli, the fact that the posters were directed at “Israelis,” as opposed to Jews, does not make a difference.

“They say Israeli, but they mean Jews and everyone who does not dissociate themselves from what happens in Gaza,” he said. “We are all included, and in my case, even more so since my wife is Israeli.”

The posters are just the latest in a series of episodes that have been making Milanese Jews increasingly uncomfortable.

The previous week, two Jewish teens aged 17 and 15, one of them openly wearing a kippah, the other a baseball cap, were attacked, beaten, and robbed by three aggressors, all underage, of Egyptian origin.

A few weeks earlier, a Jewish man was attacked by two men after they spotted him wearing a Star of David necklace. In May, a crafts store in an elegant street in the city center put up a sign in Italian reading, “Zionists and Israelis are not welcome.”

According to the president of the community, Walker Meghnagi, 75, local Jews are concerned, but they do not live in fear.

“I would say that the sentiment among community members is one of surprise and concern for what has been happening, but not fear,” Meghnagi told The Times of Israel.

Meghnagi also said the distinction between attacking Jews and attacking the Jewish state is ultimately irrelevant.

“Diaspora Jews must stand with Israel,” he said. “Some might not like the government, but Israel is not the government — Israel is the Land. People use this against us, but in the end, it’s just an excuse.”

“We are Italians of the Jewish religion, and we must keep our heads high and be respected for what we are,” he added.

The most recent report by the Centro di Documentazione Ebraica Contemporanea (CDEC), a Milan-based think tank that monitors antisemitism in Italy, revealed that in 2024, its antisemitism watchdog received 877 complaints about antisemitic incidents in the country, compared to 454 in 2023 and 241 in 2022.

The recorded incidents included physical aggression against people, antisemitic graffiti, and threats or insults on social media.

In addition to what was reported to the CDEC by the public, its staff also independently documented some 4,000 instances of antisemitic discourse online.

A supportive government

According to Meghnagi, Italian police are doing an excellent job in protecting Jewish sites.

“We have the best police in Europe, they are everywhere and act very fast,” he said. “All the synagogues, Jewish sites, and schools are under constant protection.”

Officers informed Meghnagi that the posters had been put up by a small group of Italian youths.

“However, in light of the complexity of the operation, they must have had some external funding and backing,” he said.

Meghnagi also praised the current Italian government.

“The government is pro-Israel and very active in defending the Jewish community,” he said.

When Giorgia Meloni became Italy’s first female prime minister in 2022, her government was met with suspicion both at home and abroad due to the fascist roots of her party, Fratelli d’Italia (Brothers of Italy).

Fratelli d’Italia is the political heir to the openly fascist party founded in post-World War II Italy. Meloni — along with several of her close associates — has made statements in the past that were seen as sympathetic to fascist ideology. Three years later, however, Meloni is mainly viewed as a staunchly conservative leader within the mainstream consensus, working closely with European allies as well as the Trump administration.

On the other hand, Meghnagi criticized left-wing political forces in Italy, whose actions or silence he blames for the current political climate.

In the past six months, Milan Mayor Beppe Sala declined when urged to light up the municipality building to commemorate Kfir and Ariel Bibas, the young children taken hostage and murdered by Hamas, but agreed to do so in solidarity with Gaza.

Last month, three Italian regions — Puglia, Emilia-Romagna, and Tuscany– announced they would sever ties with Israeli authorities. In a separate incident, the city of Sesto Fiorentino, with a population of 50,000, decided that its municipal pharmacies would no longer sell Israeli-made medicines and cosmetics.

All the local government representatives in these incidents belong to left or center-left parties.

“Those politicians do have an impact on at least part of the public opinion, especially those who are less informed about the situation,” said Meghnagi. “This is harmful and absurd.”

‘Between a rock and a hard place’

Emanuele Fiano has made it his life’s mission to cultivate a relationship with those on Italy’s left and educate them about antisemitism and Israel.

The son of an Auschwitz survivor, the 62-year-old Fiano is a former president of Milan’s Jewish Community and a former Member of Parliament for the Partito Democratico (PD), Italy’s largest center-left party. He has been living under police protection for 15 years, largely due to the antisemitic threats he receives.

Today, he serves as the secretary of Sinistra per Israele (Left-wing for Israel), a group established in the aftermath of the Six-Day War after a political shift against Israel among left-wing parties.

Fiano believes it is essential to distinguish between antisemitism and other forms of anti-Israel sentiment.

“I’m deeply concerned about three things: the rise in antisemitism, the misuse of the accusation itself, and the increasingly complex overlap — even for experts — between antisemitism, anti-Israel sentiment, and anti-Zionism,” he told The Times of Israel.

Fiano said that while episodes of discrimination and hatred against Israelis were horrible and wrong, they should not be confused with antisemitism.

“I believe that discriminating against Israelis — something that isn’t done to Russians, Iranians, or others — is a terrible form of racism and hatred,” he said. “But I’d be cautious about saying it means these people hate all Jews.”

Fiano mentioned how, on June 14, representatives of the Jewish LGBTQ group Keshet Europe were insulted and threatened while participating in the Rome Pride parade with their rainbow flags featuring a Star of David.

“The Star of David has been a Jewish symbol for centuries,” he said. “If a Star of David triggers insults and hatred, this is antisemitism.”

Fiano explained that he faces criticism both from the left and those who want to condemn Israel “without any ifs, ands, or buts,” as well as from some in the Jewish community because he is critical of the Netanyahu government.

“I feel caught between a rock and a hard place, and I’m exhausted,” he said. “Still, I believe the work we’re doing matters — and it’s bringing some results.”

Fiano recalled, for instance, how the Coop Italia supermarket chain — which last month announced plans to stop selling Israeli products — reversed its decision after Sinistra per Israele intervened, arguing that boycotting an entire country was wrong.

A show of solidarity

Despite the challenges, Meghnagi and Kaboli emphasized that the June 26 poster incident was followed by expressions of solidarity.

“The city reacted in an exemplary way,” Meghnagi said. “Many, including people who are not members of our community, worked to take down the posters.”

Kaboli, who, in addition to running the bakery, also owns the Denzel burger house — one of the city’s most popular kosher restaurants, drawing a vast Jewish and non-Jewish clientele — said that many people reached out to him.

“One thing that I felt good about was that when I shared photos of the posters on Facebook, many people outside the Jewish community responded — not just with comments, but also with messages and calls expressing their shock and dismay at seeing this kind of behavior in Milan,” Kaboli said.

Still, some concerns remain.

“Until recently, people in the community felt Milan was safe,” Kaboli said. “I send my 5-year-old son to the Jewish school. I would never consider doing otherwise, but we need to remain vigilant more than ever.”