Israel: the press lifts the veil on the presence in Italy of shipwrecked Israeli spies

Nearly a week later, the greatest secrecy is observed in Israel about the shipwreck on Lake Maggiore, in the northern Italian region of Lombardy, with Israeli and Italian secret agents aboard a yacht. Four people were killed in this tragedy, including a former agent of Mossad, the famous Israeli secret service. But details are beginning to filter out, according to which it was not a tourist visit.

An Italian rescue helicopter searches for survivors after a boat sank on Lake Maggiore, northern Italy, May 28, 2023. © Vigili del Fuoco / via AP

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With our correspondent in Jerusalem, Michel Paul

What is certain, says one of his Mossad colleagues, is that Erez Shimoni did not do tourism in Italy.

The subject, however, makes headlines in Israel. According to the daily Haaretz and TV channel 12, the meeting between Israeli and Italian secret agents on Lake Maggiore (northern Italy) marked the end of a long and successful operation, linked to Iranian unconventional weapons technologies.

The special services of both countries had taken a close interest in the actions of Iranian scientists. The Israeli Mossad agent who died in the sinking was in charge of relations with foreign intelligence services, it is said. The Israeli sources also stress that this was indeed an accident and not a malicious act by a competing service.

The victim was buried in Israel in the presence of many members of the intelligence community. The Mossad contented itself with a terse statement, lamenting the loss of its former agent. His true identity and age have not been revealed.

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