Germany’s ruling coalition and opposition parties have agreed on a joint call for the government to crack down on anti-Semitism despite concerns that efforts could be misused to curb criticism of Israel.
The draft proposal says the German government should continue to “actively support the existence and legitimate security interests of the State of Israel.”
The three parties in Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s left-wing coalition announced the deal on Saturday along with the opposition CDU/CSU.
The proposal, which is not legally binding, will be discussed and voted on in Germany’s parliament, the Bundestag, early next week.
The draft calls for “legal loopholes to be closed and repressive options to be consistently exploited” for those deemed by the German state to be anti-Semitic, particularly in criminal law and residence, asylum and citizenship law.
The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of anti-Semitism should be used as a “guiding principle” by government agencies at all levels, according to the draft.
The IHRA definition has been criticized by scholars because it lists many forms of criticism of Israel as anti-Semitic.
In a letter to lawmakers last year, a group of leading German lawyers warned that the application of the IHRA definition would lead to “a very problematic country in terms of constitutional and international law.”
The proposal also accuses immigrants from Muslim countries of being more anti-Semitic, unlike native Germans.
“In recent months, the alarming level of anti-Semitism based on the migration of people from the countries of North Africa and the Middle East, where anti-Semitism and hostility towards Israel is widespread, and due to the teachings of the Islamic state and Israel. clearly,” said the framework .
German political parties also objected to the draft saying that anti-Semitism has been on the rise among left-wing activists, and the draft criticizes “the trend towards increasing anti-imperialist anti-Semitism related to Israel and the left.”
The president of the German-Israel Society, Volker Beck, described himself as very satisfied with the proposal presented on Saturday.
“The clear and unconditional support for Israel’s defense by the German Bundestag helps to correct the anger sent from Berlin in the past months,” he said.
Beck’s comments about “outrage” seem to refer to comments made last month by German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, who said that arms exports to foreign countries including Israel will be inspected under the framework of humanitarian law, EU and international law.
The draft presented on Saturday was met with heavy criticism from many organizations and several hundred activists, artists, lawyers and academics.
In an open letter, they supported another recently published proposal written by sociologist Armin Nassehi and former Green Party parliamentarian Jerzy Montag, among others.
That proposal describes the protection of Jewish life in Germany as the duty of the state and society as a whole.
It also says that the mass killings committed by Hamas and other extremist groups on October 7, 2023 are “unreservedly condemned”, but at the same time notes the “immeasurable suffering” of Palestinian citizens in the Gaza Strip.
Israel has been waging an ongoing war in Gaza since tens of thousands of Palestinians were attacked.
Instead of relying on “uncertain explanations,” the open letter called for concrete steps to be taken, such as reforming human rights law or reforming education.
Supporters of the book include Amnesty International Germany and Medico International. Other signatories include Susanne Baer, ​​a former judge at the German Constitutional Court, and climate activist Luisa Neubauer, migration researcher Naika Foroutan and renowned Austrian writer Eva Menasse.
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