Germany must protect its Jews, Israeli ambassador says
The Israeli ambassador to Germany has asked authorities to protect the country's Jewish community.
Ambassador Jeremy Issacharoff spoke out after several
incidents of inflammatory vandalism at synagogues in German cities this week.
The antisemitic incidents were reportedly motivated by the current violence in
Israel and Gaza.
"I urgently request the German authorities to do
everything to ensure the security of our community here," Issacharoff said
on Friday in an interview with German public broadcaster ARD.
The Israeli government is very concerned about antisemitic
acts such as the attacks on synagogues in Bonn, Munster and other cities, he
said.
"The conflict in the Middle East has nothing to do with
the Jewish community here in Germany," Issacharoff added.
What happened?
Three separate incidents occurred on Tuesday night in the
cities of Bonn, Dusseldorf and Munster in the western state of North
Rhine-Westphalia (NRW).
In Münster, police sent officers to a synagogue where a
group of men had gathered. They were reportedly shouting and burning an Israeli
flag.
Officers said the building was not damaged and 13 men had been
charged with holding an illegal gathering.
In Bonn, three men between the ages of 20 and 24 were
detained for burning an Israeli flag, as well as throwing rocks at a
synagogue's windows.
In Düsseldorf, police said a fire was lit on top of a stone
memorial for a synagogue destroyed by Nazis during the infamous Kristallnacht,
or Night of Broken Glass, in November of 1938.
Who else has condemned the incidents?
Issacharoff is the latest public figure to have spoken out
against the incidents, along with politicians and faith leaders.
Foreign Minister Heiko Maas called for better protection for
synagogues, while Germany's antisemitism Commissioner, Felix Klein, called for
action from the police and judiciary. Catholic Bishop Georg Bätzing said such
attacks were unjustifiable.
German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier told Friday's
edition of the Bild newspaper, "Whoever burns Star of David flags or
shouts antisemitic slogans on our streets is not only abusing the right to
demonstrate but committing a crime."
"We neither want to, nor will we, tolerate the hatred
of Jews," Steinmeier added.
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