Israeli, Italian spies died when boat sunk on scenic lake, questions remain

• Four people died in a boating accident on Italy’s Lake Maggiore last month in a violent storm.
• All 21 passengers were linked to Israeli and Italian defense and intelligence work.
• Authorities said they were not interested in the burgeoning theories surrounding the incident.

Four people died in a tragic boating accident on Italy’s Lake Maggiore on May 28. However, the incident subsequently received increased media attention when the passengers’ identities emerged.

All 21 passengers on the 52-foot houseboat were currently or formerly tied to Israeli and Italian defense and intelligence work, officials said, per CNN.

Two of those who died had worked for the Italian intelligence authority. Another victim was a retired agent with Israel’s Mossad spy agency. The fourth was the Russian wife of the boat’s skipper, who was helping to crew the vessel, Reuters reported.

“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 of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement.

The vessel, named the Gooduria, sank last Sunday evening after a sudden storm capsized the boat.

No foul play is suspected, authorities said, who are investigating whether the boat was overcapacity.

When the boat capsized, some in the group managed to swim to the shore, and others were rescued by nearby boats, CNN reported.

The boat’s captain is under investigation over the deaths, officials said, who made clear they were not pursuing any other lines of inquiry surrounding the incident. 

“The prosecutor’s office is not investigating the nature of the passengers on the boat, only the captain’s role in the accident,” the prosecutor’s office said, per CNN.

The picturesque lake south of the Swiss Alps is in between Italy’s Lombardy region and the Swiss canton of Ticino.

Several companies that produce both military and civilian technology use are located in Lombardy, the BCC reported. Switzerland is considered a transit country for those working in intelligence, according to the BBC. 

In the days that followed the accident, authorities struggled to find hotel bookings for the passengers, The Guardian reported. The Israelis abandoned their rental cars and were flown home on a plane that picked them up in Milan on Monday, BBC News said.

The Italian press speculated as to the nature of the party

Italy’s ANSA news agency reported the gathering had been for a birthday celebration, per Reuters. 

The Corriere della Sera, a Milan daily newspaper, had a more dramatic guess — that the spies had been scoping the lake for Russian magnates living nearby, according to the New York Times.

Other reports in the Italian press alleged that the group had met “to exchange information and documents,” while others theorized that the Israeli agents were monitoring contacts between Iranian and Italian firms, The Guardian reported.

Authorities, however, did not see that anything was particularly mysterious. “I don’t know where the reconstructions came from, but they all seem a bit forced,” a police source said, per The Guardian.

 “Anyone can write what they want to, they could even say the boat was targeted by aliens. But what happened is that there was an accident caused by a weather event. I don’t see a great mystery other than the fact that they hired a tourist boat on what was initially a beautiful day for a tour of the lake, maybe for a birthday — it’s not your typical 007 occasion.”