A group of 80 Jewish intellectuals called on Italian voters to reject the center-right candidate in the run-off race for Rome mayor.
Their appeal was published Friday in the leftist daily L’Unita.
The group said that center-right candidate Gianni Alemanno has the backing of the extreme-right Destra party as well as neo-Nazi skinheads and other far-right extremists.
“One doesn’t defend democracy by rewarding anti-Semitism and the moral heirs of Nazi-Fascism,” the petition said. Signatories included well-known authors, journalists, entertainers and others.
Alemanno faces center-left candidate Francesco Rutelli in the run-off vote Sunday and Monday.
