New claims link Israeli intelligence to the Red Brigades and Aldo Moro’s death

Investigative journalist Eric Salerno has alleged that the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad played a role in the 1978 kidnapping and assassination of former Italian Prime Minister Aldo Moro by the leftist Red Brigades organization.

Moro was known for his pro-Palestinian stance during his time in office.

Speaking to the independent news portal The Grayzone, Salerno based his claims on the testimony of Red Brigades member Alberto Franceschini. Franceschini stated that Mossad had been in contact with the organization “from the very beginning.”

Franceschini noted that such contacts were “quite normal” in terms of Mossad’s methods of establishing relationships with “subversive organizations” across Europe.

Franceschini also mentioned that Israel “offered weapons and support” to the Red Brigades as part of its “efforts to destabilize” Italy.

Aldo Moro was kidnapped in Rome on March 16, 1978, and all but one of his bodyguards were killed during the attack.

After nearly two months in captivity, Moro was killed when the government of the time refused to negotiate with the organization.

The decision to kill Moro was made with Israel’s indirect intervention

Salerno pointed to other sources that hold Mossad responsible for Moro’s assassination. In 1998, Giuseppe De Gori, a lawyer for Moro’s Christian Democrat Party, alleged that Mossad “always kept the Red Brigades under control without officially infiltrating” them.

According to De Gori, the decision to kill Moro was made with “Israel’s indirect intervention.”

The lawyer argued that Israel “hated” Moro, whom it considered “anti-Zionist,” and used its ability to “leak” information to direct the actions of the Red Brigades.

De Gori also claimed that a Mossad colonel had offered the organization “weapons and all kinds of support on the condition that they follow a different policy.”

In a 2002 statement to author Philip Willan, De Gori explained that Mossad had sealed the politician’s fate by helping the Red Brigades draft a fake letter claiming Moro was already dead.

“From that point on, Moro could no longer be saved,” De Gori said.

Similar allegations from former judicial officials…

Giovanni Galloni, former vice president of Italy’s High Council of the Judiciary, also stated that Moro’s killers were directed by Washington or Tel Aviv.

Galloni recounted that Moro had told him months before his kidnapping that he believed US and Israeli intelligence agencies had infiltrated the Red Brigades.

Moro reportedly concluded that not all of the assailants were members of the organization, based on their professional marksmanship.

In 2017, former judge Luigi Carli claimed that the Red Brigades were “co-financed by Mossad.”

According to Carli, those who collaborated with the organization believed that “any action that weakened Italy’s internal situation would increase Israel’s prestige and influence in the Mediterranean.”

The Italy-Israel intelligence alliance

In his 2010 book, Mossad Base Italy, Salerno wrote that the origins of the Italy-Israel alliance date back “before the establishment of Israel, before 1948.”

The book states that every Italian government secretly assisted Mossad, and Tel Aviv, in turn, assigned “top-secret missions” to Italian intelligence.

In his review of the book, Haaretz correspondent Yossi Melman noted, “Israeli intelligence agents confirm that Italian intelligence agencies are among the friendliest in the world.”

“Today’s government is an extension of the old fascist regime”

Salerno also offered criticism of Italy’s current government. “Today’s government is a continuation, even an extension, of the old fascist regime,” Salerno said, adding that there is no longer a pro-Arab tendency in Italian politics, so the US and Israel feel no need to destabilize the country.

Stating that Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has no sympathy for Palestinians and no intention of recognizing a Palestinian state, Salerno expressed that the current government’s capacity to criticize Israel is limited.

Salerno also touched upon the recent pro-Palestinian demonstrations in Italy.

Recalling that about 10 people were injured in incidents where police used water cannons and tear gas, Salerno added, “What is happening in Gaza today is extraordinary. But for years in Italy, nothing was taught or said about the drama experienced by the Palestinians.”