Italy shuts down ‘Jew hunting’ form seeking to ‘map Zionist tourism’ after uproar

An anonymous online form asking people to report the locations of Jews and Israeli tourists in Italy has been taken down after government officials intervened, according to media reports on Tuesday.

The Google form, circulated on social media and messaging groups before it was removed, asked users to identify Jews, Israelis and people believed to have ties to Zionism at hotels, vacation rentals, businesses and other public places. Its purpose was to “map Zionist tourism” and “Zionist neo-colonization” in Italy, the form said.

It was removed this week following the intervention of Italy’s commissioner for combating antisemitism, Gen. Pasquale Angelosanto.

Jewish leaders condemned the initiative, with Livia Ottolenghi, president of the Union of Italian Jewish Communities, calling the campaign a “new yellow star,” reminiscent of Italy’s 1938 fascist racial laws.

Walker Meghnagi, president of the Jewish Community of Milan, warned that “hunting Jews” would encourage attacks by extremists. Government officials condemned the form as well.

In a statement on Sunday, Italian Senate President Ignazio La Russa called the form “an aberrant initiative, in open violation of fundamental human rights and the constitutional principles on which our nation is founded.”

“A real manhunt.”

In Italy ????????, an anonymous form has circulated, urging users to report the arrival of Jews, Israelis, or anyone affiliated with “Zionists” at hotels and businesses.

Advertisement

The form's stated goal is to "map Zionist tourism" in Italy, though many Jewish leaders are… pic.twitter.com/EhzWMXJnas

— Hen Mazzig (@HenMazzig) July 20, 2026

“Any form of profiling people based on their religious beliefs or their ties to Israel is neither acceptable nor justifiable. Behind all this lies a profound antisemitism that must be unanimously, firmly, and resolutely rejected. We cannot remain immobile in the face of such grave events that evoke the ghosts of the past. My deepest sympathy to the Jewish Community,” he said.

Dana, a resident of Bologna, told Israel’s Channel 12 news: “Among other things, they want to mark shops, just as the Nazis did to us in 1933.”

The incident comes as antisemitic attacks continue to rise in Italy. According to the Center of Contemporary Jewish Documentation, 963 incidents were recorded nationwide in 2025, including a sharp increase in physical assaults.

Over the past year in Italy, antisemitic incidents have included synagogue vandalism in Rome with Nazi slogans, physical assaults on Jewish individuals in Milan, and verbal harassment in Venice.

A survey found in September that around 15% of Italians view attacks on Jews as “justifiable.”

CDEC researchers warn that antisemitic discourse is becoming increasingly normalized in Italian society, shrinking the social spaces in which being Jewish is regarded as acceptable under constitutional protections.