{"id":63486,"date":"2026-05-11T13:09:06","date_gmt":"2026-05-11T13:09:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/63486\/"},"modified":"2026-05-11T13:09:06","modified_gmt":"2026-05-11T13:09:06","slug":"german-media-chief-declares-he-is-a-zionist-at-wjc-in-geneva","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/63486\/","title":{"rendered":"German media chief declares he is ‘a Zionist’ at WJC in Geneva"},"content":{"rendered":"

A leading German media executive declared Monday that he was \u201ca goy\u201d (non-Jew) and \u201ca Zionist,\u201d telling the World Jewish Congress<\/a> in Geneva that the free world must confront antisemitism, anti-Zionism, and online radicalization before they undermine Western democracy itself.<\/p>\n

Mathias D\u00f6pfner, CEO of Axel Springer, the owner of Politico and Business Insider, delivered the remarks at a WJC (World Jewish Congress) Governing Board gathering marking 90 years since the organization was founded in Geneva<\/a> in 1936.<\/p>\n

\u201cI never want to give or hear another \u2018Never Again\u2019 speech,\u201d D\u00f6pfner said, according to a text of his remarks. \u201c\u2018Never Again\u2019 has become lip service.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said the phrase had become \u201ca moral declaration of intent without consequences,\u201d arguing that the global reaction after the October 7 massacre showed that Western societies had failed to act on the lessons they claim to uphold.<\/p>\n

D\u00f6pfner said antisemitism had entered a new stage after October 7, spreading across universities, cultural institutions, social media platforms, and city streets.<\/p>\n

\"WJCWJC President Ronald S. Lauder speaking at the Wirkd Jewish Congress in Geneva. (credit: SHAHAR AZRAN)\u2018Why should Zionism be only for Jews?\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cRight after the images of the victims were seen, the downplaying began. Right after the names of the murdered were known, the justifications began,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

D\u00f6pfner delivered a sweeping defense of Zionism, saying support for Israel should be embraced by Jews and non-Jews alike.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat does not make sense to me is this: Why should Zionism be an idea and a goal that only Jews can embrace?\u201d he said. \u201cI am a goy. And I am a Zionist.\u201d<\/p>\n

He described Israel as \u201ca bridgehead of Western values in the Middle East\u201d and said Zionism was \u201cthe logical consequence of history.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cA people\u2019s right to live in safety. The right to defend oneself. The right not to be dependent on the mercy of others again,\u201d he said. \u201cAnyone who questions these rights is not only questioning Israel, but the principles upon which free societies are founded.\u201d<\/p>\n

D\u00f6pfner also rejected the slogan \u201cZionism is racism,\u201d saying: \u201cIt is not Zionism that is racism. Rather, anti-Zionism is racism.\u201dD\u00f6pfner devoted part of his address to social media, singling out TikTok as a major driver of antisemitic and anti-Israel radicalization among young people.<\/p>\n

\u201cTikTok, in particular, is today one of the most dangerous propaganda machines for amplifying extremist content,\u201d he said, adding that it had become \u201cby far the most influential information medium for young people.\u201d<\/p>\n

He argued that large platforms face far less responsibility than traditional media outlets.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery small local newspaper must assume legal responsibility if it has disseminated something false or unlawful,\u201d D\u00f6pfner said. \u201cBut while TikTok reaches over two billion users, the platform bears virtually no responsibility.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said Europe should follow the US example and require TikTok<\/a> to be sold to non-Chinese owners.<\/p>\n

WJC President Ronald S. Lauder, who introduced D\u00f6pfner, offered his own criticism of international media coverage of Israel.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is especially true in journalism and media right now, when it is hard to tell the difference between the BBC and Al Jazeera,\u201d Lauder said.<\/p>\n

Lauder praised D\u00f6pfner as \u201ca righteous gentile\u201d and described him as a rare media figure willing to defend Israel publicly.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen journalism distorts the news about Israel every day, Mathias holds fast,\u201d Lauder said.<\/p>\n

Lauder also drew a parallel between the founding of the WJC in Geneva in 1936 and the threats facing Jewish communities today.<\/p>\n

\u201cNinety years ago, one of the darkest hours for the Jewish people was coming, and it is no accident that we are back here exactly 90 years later,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He warned that antisemitism was no longer confined to the Jewish community.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat the world has to realize is that today it\u2019s the Jews, and tomorrow it\u2019s everyone else,\u201d Lauder said. \u201cWhat starts with the Jews never ends with the Jews.\u201d<\/p>\n

D\u00f6pfner ended his speech by arguing that the fight against antisemitism was primarily a task for non-Jews and a test of whether Western societies could defend their own values.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf the West, that is, the free world, does not defeat antisemitism<\/a>, it will destroy itself,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He closed with a call for solidarity with Israel and the Jewish people.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe all shall be Zionists,\u201d D\u00f6pfner said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A leading German media executive declared Monday that he was \u201ca goy\u201d (non-Jew) and \u201ca Zionist,\u201d telling the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":63487,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[4559,65,34727,34728,24738,34556,8475],"class_list":{"0":"post-63486","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-geneva","8":"tag-antisemitism","9":"tag-geneva","10":"tag-radicalization","11":"tag-the-october-7-massacre","12":"tag-tiktok","13":"tag-world-jewish-congress","14":"tag-zionism"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ch\/116556107829610954","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63486","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=63486"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63486\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/63487"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63486"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63486"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63486"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}