SerpApi.Org
Italian regulators have removed a webform that invited users to report the whereabouts of Israeli or Jewish tourists traveling in Italy, the Italian national news agency ANSA reported late last week.
The website, which purported to be aimed at "mapping Zionist tourism," was distributed via social media chats and groups before authorities removed it, citing violation of Italian and E.U. data protection laws, which offer protections against the harvesting or dissemination of a person's data without their consent. When the data involves religion or social identity, the protections are enhanced by Italy's constitution, which guarantees the right to equal protection, regardless of religion or social identity.
Jewish leaders were quick to condemn the web form and compare it to the registration and tracking of Jewish citizens in the 1930s.
"Back then, it was lists and filing; today, an online form, precisely because it can be shared easily, can reach a huge number of people in a short time," said Walker Meghnagi, president of the Jewish Community of Milan, in a statement to ANSA.
"Mapping where Jews are is extremely serious,” he notes, reasoning that the Italian judiciary must intervene to protect the rights of Jews and Israelis in Italy. The political party Sinistra per Israele Due Popoli Due Stati (Left for Israel: Two Peoples, Two States) immediately called for the withdrawal of the web form. Community leaders have also filed requests for investigation by the Italian Data Protection Authority.
The Italian newspaper La Sicilia noted that antisemitic incidents have skyrocketed in Italy since 2022, having increased 400% in a four-year period. Physical assaults have also increased, particularly in the northern state of Lombardy, which includes Milan, and the central state of Lazio, which includes Rome.
The European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) also observed an uptick in antisemitic incidents recorded across the European Union following the October 7, 2023, Hamas attacks, largely related to Israel's response in Gaza. Italy reported 304 officially reported cases of antisemitic criminal conduct in 2024.
The forms were removed following intervention by Italy's National Coordinator for the Fight Against Antisemitism, Gen. Pasquale Angelosanto, reported The Jerusalem Post.
The web form purported to be managed by the Global Sumud Movement, a group Israel has accused of being managed by Hamas, but the group denied any involvement when contacted by the Italian periodical La Repubblica. The group was noted for launching a flotilla that attempted to block Israel's naval blockade of Gaza to deliver humanitarian aid supplies last summer. Convoys in the flotilla embarked from the Italian cities of Otranto, Genoa, and Catania in August and September of 2025.
Antisemitic incidents in the U.S. and Europe remain historically high in both regions. The American Anti-Defamation League (ADL) reported 2025 as the third-highest year on record for antisemitic incidents since the advocacy organization began tracking them in 1979. The ADL reported record numbers of incidents in 2023 and 2024, but noted that while overall incidents declined into 2025, the number of physical assaults in 2025 more than doubled.
In response to the increased number of incidents, FRA held a strategy working group session in Vienna in late June. The session brought together national coordinators on combating antisemitism, civil society organizations, Jewish communities, International Governmental Organizations, and experts at large.
Italian regulators have not revealed how much data was collected by the webform before it was taken offline, or given estimates on who accessed the data, where it was warehoused, or whether it posed an immediate security threat for Jewish or Israeli travelers in Italy.
