Demonstrators participate in a pro-Palestinian protest in Piazza Duomo in Milan, Italy, on Nov. 23, 2024. Photo: Alessandro Bremec/NurPhoto via Reuters Connect

Italian Jewish leaders and senior politicians have condemned an anonymous online form that asked users to report the locations of Jews and Israeli tourists across the country, warning that the initiative recalled fascist-era efforts to identify and isolate Jews.

The Google form, titled “Mapping Zionist Tourism,” circulated through social media and messaging groups before being removed following an intervention by Italy’s National Coordinator for the Fight Against Antisemitism, Gen. Pasquale Angelosanto.

It asked users to report the presence of Israeli citizens, Italian Jews, and people deemed connected to Zionism at hotels, vacation rentals, businesses, and other locations. Its creators said they wanted to document tourism, property purchases, and what they called “Zionist neo-colonization” in Italy in order to coordinate unspecified future initiatives.

Jewish leaders warned that collecting such information could expose individuals and businesses to harassment or violence.

Livia Ottolenghi, president of the Union of Italian Jewish Communities, described the initiative as a “new yellow star,” invoking the badges Jews were forced to wear under Nazi persecution and the discrimination imposed by Italy’s fascist racial laws beginning in 1938.

Walker Meghnagi, president of the Jewish Community of Milan, said the campaign evoked “hunting Jews” and warned that it could encourage further hostility against a community already facing an increasingly threatening environment.

“I think we’re going back to the 1930s, to hunting Jews,” Meghnagi said.

Italian Senate President Ignazio La Russa called the form an “aberrant initiative” and said profiling people because of their religion or connection to Israel was indefensible.

“Any form of profiling people based on their religious beliefs or their ties to Israel is neither acceptable nor justifiable,” La Russa said in a statement. “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,” he added.

“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.

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

It was not immediately clear who created the form or whether Italian law enforcement had opened a criminal investigation. Its removal came after screenshots and links circulated widely online, drawing condemnation from Jewish organizations and government officials.

The episode follows a sharp rise in antisemitism in Italy since the Hamas-led massacre across southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

The Milan-based Foundation Center of Contemporary Jewish Documentation, or CDEC, recorded 963 antisemitic incidents in Italy during 2025, the highest annual total it has documented and a 10 percent increase over the previous year. The figure was roughly double the number recorded in 2023.

Of the 2025 incidents, 643 occurred online, while 320 involved offline acts including threats, harassment, assaults, graffiti, vandalism, and the desecration of Jewish institutions.

Jewish leaders said the latest campaign was especially alarming because it moved beyond hostile rhetoric and sought actionable information about where Jews and Israelis could be found.

The form’s language also appeared to erase any distinction between Israeli nationality, Jewish identity, and support for Zionism, treating all three as grounds for surveillance and public exposure.