The Israeli Foreign Ministry on Monday condemned death threats made against Italian businessman, philanthropist and honorary consul of Israel in Tuscany and Lombardy Marco Carrai.
Graffiti painted on a wall on Sunday in central Florence and in the underpass of the city’s Santa Maria Novella train station read, “Zionists hanged,” “Carrai die,” “Jews burned alive,” “Jews to the stake” and “Free Palestine,” among other messages, according to the Florence-based newspaper La Nazione.
The graffiti had since been removed, the report said.
The newspaper cited Mayor Sara Funaro as saying, “The antisemitism that resurfaces on the walls of our city is something serious and unacceptable.”
Israel’s Foreign Ministry wrote on X that it is concerned by the rise in antisemitic incidents across Italy, “from attacks on Jews in the streets of Milan, to the desecration of Holocaust memorials, and vandalism of Stumble Stones honoring Jews deported to Nazi death camps.”
It further stated, “We are certain the Italian authorities will act swiftly and decisively to identify those responsible, protect Jewish communities, and confront antisemitism with the seriousness it requires.”
We condemn the death threats against Marco Carrai, Honorary Consul of Israel.
— Israel Foreign Ministry (@IsraelMFA) May 4, 2026
Across Italy, we are increasingly concerned by the rise in antisemitic incidents, from attacks on Jews in the streets of Milan, to the desecration of Holocaust memorials, and vandalism of Stumble…
Carrai, a Christian, has reaffirmed his support for Israel and the Jewish community following the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attacks on the Jewish state.
He assumed the role of a liaison between the Israeli government and local Italian institutions in 2019.
Responding to the latest death threats against him, Carrai was quoted by La Nazione as saying, “I express my deep gratitude to the law enforcement forces who, on a daily basis, work to protect people like me who are the target of repeated personal threats, and I thank them for safeguarding my family as well. My most heartfelt thanks go to the officers on duty and to their local and national leadership.
“An equally sincere thank you goes to local and national politicians who, for years, have not been afraid to support and defend me,” he continued.
“To those, instead, who express solidarity with me only intermittently—who at times condemn the (serious) graffiti that appeared on a wall in Florence, and at other times remain silent … I offer a lukewarm smile: dear friends, it is hypocritical to denounce unknown graffiti writers if one does not also ‘denounce’ well-known voices that, not exactly indirectly, fuel hatred; perhaps this hatred is less blatant than death threats written on a wall, but it is far more insidious and persistent.”
