{"id":35279,"date":"2025-04-20T09:47:10","date_gmt":"2025-04-20T09:47:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/35279\/"},"modified":"2025-04-20T09:47:10","modified_gmt":"2025-04-20T09:47:10","slug":"tensions-rising-in-germany-amid-criticism-of-israeli-government-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/35279\/","title":{"rendered":"Tensions rising in Germany amid criticism of Israeli government \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ferat Ko\u00e7ak is as popular as he is visible in Berlin<\/a>\u2019s Neukolln district.<\/p>\n

After making a name for himself in Berlin state politics, the straight-talking Ko\u00e7ak took 30 per cent of the vote for the Linke (Left Party) and secured a Bundestag seat in February\u2019s federal election.<\/p>\n

A grandson of Kurdish immigrants, the 45-year-old describes his politics as \u201cnonconformist, anti-racist and anti-fascist\u201d. For him the planned expulsion from Germany of four pro-Palestinian activists <\/a>\u2013 including two Irish citizens \u2013 is part of a wider, worrying trend here against dissent. Since October 7th, 2023, he says, critics of Israel<\/a> and those who show solidarity with Palestinians<\/a> \u201care labelled political extremists\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is part of a systemic strategy to push particular positions from the public square, something that affects in particular people with international biographies, migrant background or those without secure residential status,\u201d he said. \u201cWhoever expresses politically unpopular views is to be silenced or deported.\u201d<\/p>\n

Berlin authorities dispute this and say they are acting against people who threaten the public order with slogans and actions that challenge the existence of Israel and endanger Jewish life in Germany.<\/p>\n

Since 2007 defending these positions has been referred to as German \u201cStaatsr\u00e4son\u201d or reason of state, a stance welcomed by many official Jewish communities. But there are critical Jewish voices, such as Iris Hefets, a Berlin-based Israeli psychoanalyst. A regular attendee at pro-Palestine marches, she views post-Holocaust Germany\u2019s stance to Jews as paternalistic, \u201ca bit like saying \u2018save our bees\u2019\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey have metaphorically swallowed \u2018the Jews\u2019 who are now sitting in the belly of the German nation and part of Germany again, which makes Germany good again,\u201d said Hefets. \u201cThe conflict here arises because the illusion is collapsing. We are not the ideal Jews that Germany thought it had swallowed. The state of Israel, that Germany identifies with `Jews`, is not perfect. We are separate, autonomous, complex. They cannot control us expressing that and they flip out.\u201d<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Susan Neiman: \u2018I wanted to revive Jewish intellectual life in Germany, but now I don\u2019t think they really want it\u2019Opens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

The growing conflict in Berlin, with state politicians and police facing off against pro-Gaza protesters, is seeping slowly into German federal politics, too.<\/p>\n

Just-completed coalition talks between the centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and centre-left Social Democratic Party (SPD) were filled with post-October 7th<\/a> tensions, according to participants.<\/p>\n

The final document reiterates Staatsr\u00e4son and, with an eye on recent protests in Berlin and elsewhere, vows to tackle \u201chostility to Israel\u201d in schools and universities.<\/p>\n

Asked where criticism of Israel ends and hostility to Israel begins, a SPD federal spokesman said \u201cwe understand hostility to Israel as statements and actions that deny Israel\u2019s right to exist\u201d.<\/p>\n

On expulsions of Irish activists, the SPD said any proceedings against member state citizens to revoke their EU freedom of movement \u201cmust meet the legal requirements\u201d.<\/p>\n

The CDU \u2013 along with its Bavarian CSU allies \u2013 are more outspoken about Israel-critical protest and the four people facing expulsion.<\/p>\n

CDU\/CSU politicians, at state and federal level, have described the four repeatedly as \u201ccriminals\u201d, despite ongoing police investigations and no previous convictions.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe likely new coalition intends to combat decisively anti-Semitism and hostility towards Israel at our universities,\u201d said Daniela Ludwig, spokeswoman for Jewish life in Germany and relations with the state of Israel, in the CDU\/CSU Bundestag parliamentary party.<\/p>\n

\"FriedrichFriedrich Merz, (left), leader of the Christian Democratic Union, and Lars Klingbeil of the German Social Democrats (SPD) speak to the media during the presentation of the coalition contract earlier this month. Photograph: Maja Hitij\/Getty Images <\/p>\n

During coalition talks in Berlin, senior sources report that SPD negotiators had to push the CDU to accept a reference to a \u201ctwo-state solution\u201d, previously a given in such coalition documents.<\/p>\n

The SPD also reportedly watered down CDU language to defund the United Nations Unrwa aid agency, banned by Israel, with a final text that makes future German funding \u201cdependent on far-reaching reform\u201d.<\/p>\n

Political observers expect a more openly pro-Israel line from CDU chancellor-in-waiting Friedrich Merz<\/a>. The 69-year-old is likely to make a visit to Jerusalem a political priority after his swearing-in next month.<\/p>\n

Last February, a day after Merz\u2019s election victory, the office of the Israeli prime minister said in a statement that the CDU leader had invited Binyamin Netanyahu<\/a> to Germany \u201cas an open challenge to the scandalous decision of the International Criminal Court to label the prime minister a war criminal\u201d.<\/p>\n

A CDU spokesman said the two had merely discussed a meeting. Should Netanyahu plan a trip to Germany, the spokesman said, Merz \u201cpromised him that we will find ways and means to ensure that he can visit and leave Germany without being arrested\u201d.<\/p>\n

Merz has described as \u201ccompletely absurd\u201d the idea of an Israeli prime minister avoiding Germany for fear of arrest, triggering alarm bells with his future coalition partner.<\/p>\n

Many SPD figures fear a Netanyahu visit would set Germany on a damaging collision course between its postwar commitments to international law \u2013 and those to Israel.<\/p>\n

Senior SPD parliamentarian Ralf M\u00fctzenich has warned that ignoring the arrest warrant would damage Germany\u2019s reputation for recognising, developing and enforcing international criminal law.<\/p>\n

With an eye on Netanyahu\u2019s recent visit to Hungary, M\u00fctzenich added: \u201cWe must not allow representatives of our state to be put on an equal footing with Viktor Orban.\u201d<\/p>\n

Senior SPD figures, who under Olaf Scholz refused to restart bilateral government consultations with Israel that were paused during the pandemic, fear the CDU plans to do just that. Further tensions are likely on Germany\u2019s on-again, off-again arms exports to Israel. The official position on Israeli settlements remains as unclear, not mentioned in the coalition agreement, as Berlin\u2019s future stance on Gaza or Israel-occupied \u201csecurity zones\u201d there.<\/p>\n

Outgoing Green foreign minister Annalena Baerbock was a regular visitor to the Middle East and became a vocal critic of Israel\u2019s military tactics in Gaza and its extended aid blockades to the region. The prospect of Germany\u2019s first CDU foreign minister in 60 years \u2013 no candidate has been named yet \u2013 has many senior diplomats on edge. Some fear a CDU-led ministry will dial down criticism of Jerusalem while others think a rendezvous with the drastic realities of the region might change even a right-wing ministerial mind.<\/p>\n

For long-time analysts of German-Israeli relations, the credibility of the future Merz administration hinges on \u201clearning to differentiate\u201d on Israel.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is imperative to distinguish between the state of Israel and the current government,\u201d wrote Meron Mendel, a social scientist and director of the Anne Frank Centre in Frankfurt, to Der Spiegel. \u201cAlthough this government came to power democratically, it has been trying to undermine Israeli democracy since the beginning of its term \u2013 following the example of Erdogan and Orban.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Ko\u00e7ak, \u201cnothing can justify the terror\u201d of the October 7th Hamas attacks on Israel that left at least 1,200 dead. But he says Israel\u2019s response has been \u201ccompletely disproportionate\u201d given the reported death toll of 50,000 and rising.<\/p>\n

In his Neuk\u00f6lln constituency office he describes civil disobedience as a legitimate form of protest but draws a line at violent behaviour \u2013 from protesters, but also police.<\/p>\n

Listening to Ko\u00e7ak, it\u2019s clear he fears Germany is on a road to authoritarian hell, paved with good intentions to protect certain minorities by leaning on others\u2019 freedoms: of opinion, assembly and speech. Already he fears a precedent is being set for the future.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhere will it end? The far-right AfD comes to power and other activists that aren\u2019t liked \u2013 anti-fascists for instance \u2013 are deported?\u201d he asks. \u201cOur democracy lives from contradiction and we have to defend that. Things are heading in a direction that leave me very worried.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ferat Ko\u00e7ak is as popular as he is visible in Berlin\u2019s Neukolln district. After making a name for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":35280,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5310],"tags":[2000,299,1945,10982,1824,20418],"class_list":{"0":"post-35279","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-germany","8":"tag-eu","9":"tag-europe","10":"tag-friedrich-merz","11":"tag-gaza-strip","12":"tag-germany","13":"tag-israel-hamas-conflict"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114369661860467673","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35279","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35279"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35279\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35280"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35279"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35279"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35279"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}