A ‘bloodied’ Israeli flag was seeing flying in Milan, outside the World Expo. Illustrative Photo: Wikipedia.

An Israeli visitor to the World Expo 2015, held this year in Milan, was horrified to discover that an Israeli flag displayed in the city, along with those of the other countries participating in the event, had been splattered with red paint to signify blood, Israel’s Channel 2 reported on Sunday.

Yair Geva, a communications consultant in the Italian city on his honeymoon, said he was equally shocked that the “blood-stained” flag had not been removed.

“Nobody is cleaning it up; nobody thinks it’s not right [for it to be flying like that],” Geva told Channel 2. “There are dozens of flags, and only one of them had an entire can of red paint sprayed on it – [looking like] blood [is] covering the star of David, [and] in the heart of Europe.”

Geva said that this was particularly shameful, since “the Iranian flag is flying [nearby] as pure as snow.”

Menachem Gantz, the spokesman for the Israeli pavilion at the Expo, said that this “[blood-spattering on the Israeli flag] has happened before, on more than one occasion,” but that in each case, the flag was immediately replaced.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry responded: “This is yet another example proving that behind the BDS movement lie extremists who only promote hatred and violence. The flag in question is not located within the Expo area, but rather in the city itself. [We] are in touch with the Expo authorities and the municipality of Milan, and the flag will soon be replaced.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited this Expo — an annual international exhibit of technology, agriculture and food, which hosts some 150 countries – last month, where he expressed his “[excitement] that Israel is an enormous global powerhouse in the fields of technology and agriculture and in developing new innovations.” He stressed that “these abilities are stronger than any attempt to boycott us or push us into the margins, because we are creating a better future for all humanity.”