A retired Mossad agent who died in an apparent freak boating accident in Italy earlier this week was laid to rest in Ashkelon on Wednesday shortly after his body was repatriated.
Many Mossad employees who attended the funeral, hid their faces behind surgical masks at the cemetery in Ashkelon where the man, whose real identity has not been disclosed, was eulogized by Mossad chief Dedi Barnea.
The man, two Italian intelligence officers and a Russian woman drowned after the boat they were on capsized in a sudden, fierce storm on Lake Maggiore in northern Italy on Sunday evening. They had been aboard a pleasure craft, along with 19 other people.
The accident drew widespread attention after Rome acknowledged that two of the dead, Claudio Alonzi, 62, and Tiziana Barnobi, 53, worked for the Italian secret services.
Mossad confirms killed Israeli was a Mossad agent
Italian sources also said that the dead Israeli had been a spy, naming him as 50-year-old Erez Shimoni but that has turned out not to be his real name, and at the funeral, he was referred to only by the initial “M”.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office confirmed on Wednesday that the man was a retired Mossad employee.
“The Mossad lost a dear friend, a devoted and professional member, who dedicated his life to the security of the State of Israel for decades,” the office said in a statement.
“Given his service with the agency it is not possible to elaborate on his identity,” it added.
The dead Russian was named as Anya Bozhkova, 50. She was the wife of the Italian skipper of the boat, which was rented out to tourists for trips around the lake.
Italy’s ANSA news agency reported that 13 Israelis and eight Italians had been aboard the boat to celebrate a birthday. However, Il Messaggero newspaper said on Wednesday that the two groups were on a work trip, giving no further information.
Neither Italy nor Israel has commented on the gathering.
No one has suggested foul play in the accident.