Italy: New Communist Party publishes list of 'Zionist organizations and agents' to intimidate Jews

Italy's New Communist Party, a political movement that has no representatives in Parliament, generated strong criticism in Italy after publishing an antisemitic list of "Zionist organizations and agents."

Members of the entire Italian political system and the local Jewish community condemned the list, which names some 150 Israeli and Italian organizations and individuals, including rabbis, journalists, representatives of Israel, businesspeople and technology executives, among others, who the party deems "guilty" of supporting the Jewish state.

The leftist movement stated in the publication that "all of them are Zionist agents that must be fought." It added that "the Zionist entity is an integral part of the power system of the Pontifical Republic."

The New Communist Party also argued that it is difficult to "uncover" the "Zionists" in positions of power because they "hide" behind companies, banks and "U.S. imperial groups."

The movement further noted that "Zionist infiltration" is present all levels of Italian society and businesses.

'A serious and unacceptable attack on freedom of thought'

The Hebrew Community of Rome expressed its "firm condemnation" of the antisemitic post. "All that was missing was the tool of the proscription list and the public pillory with names and surnames," it expressed.

Ignazio La Russa, president of the Senate and member of the right-wing Brothers of Italy party, also repudiated the list shared by the New Communist Party. "This is a serious and unacceptable attack on freedom of thought and a worrying threat to the safety of the people involved," he said.

The center-left Democratic Party presented a parliamentary resolution on the "delirious communiqué of an antisemitic group, calling itself the New Italian Communist Party, which draws up a proscription list of people, associations, entities and companies to be attacked for their relations with Israel and the Jewish world. The umpteenth in a long series of antisemitic acts."

The Simon Wiesenthal Center, an institution dedicated to documenting Holocaust victims and keeping records of Nazi war criminals, noted that "treating support for Israel as a crime and trying to publicly shame Jews for doing so is profoundly antisemitic. Credit must be given to several Italian political parties that called this antisemitic."

Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera reported that the New Communist Party defended the post by pointing out that it was a retaliation for the "smear campaign" against Gabriele Rubini, also known as Chef Rubio, a former semi-professional rugby player, chef and television presenter who has made a series of antisemitic comments since the Oct. 7 massacre.