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Merz: Criticism of Israel in Germany has become a pretext for hatred of Jews

2025-09-17 22:30:23, Kosova & Bota CNA

Merz: Criticism of Israel in Germany has become a pretext for hatred of Jews

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Wednesday that criticism of Israel is increasingly being used in Germany as a pretext to incite hatred against Jews.

Speaking at a ceremony to mark the 75th anniversary of the founding of the Central Council of Jews, Merz said anti-Semitism has become "louder, more open, more brazen and almost daily more violent" since the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, which triggered the war in Gaza.

Hamas is a Palestinian group declared a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union.

"'Criticism of Israel' and the crudest inversion of the victim-aggressor relationship is increasingly becoming a pretext through which the poison of anti-Semitism is spread," he said.

Germany is the second-largest arms supplier to Israel after the United States, and has long been one of its strongest supporters, largely due to historical guilt over the Nazi Holocaust - a policy known as "Staatsraison".

However, last month, Germany suspended the export of weapons that could be used in the Gaza Strip due to Israel's plan to expand its military campaign in the Palestinian enclave.

This is the first time that Germany has agreed to deny military support to its longtime ally.

The decision came after mounting pressure from the public and the junior coalition partner over the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, where Israel has severely restricted food and water supplies.

In his speech in Berlin on Wednesday, Merz mentioned this turn of events, saying that criticism of the Israeli government "must be possible," but added:

"Our country suffers damage to its soul when this criticism becomes a pretext for hatred of Jews, or even if it leads to demands that Germany turn its back on Israel."/ REL





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