Jewish Officials Fear Growing Anti-Israeli Sentiment in Germany

The official consensus among Israeli leaders and media pundits is that Germany is one of their nation’s best friends. Behind the scenes, however, many Israeli officials are growing concerned about growing anti-Israeli sentiment in Germany. Ynetnews reported October 28:

Although German Chancellor Angela Merkel is considered one of the most prominent pro-Israel leaders in the European Union and in the world, the public opinion in her country appears to be completely different.A senior state official told Ynet that although the official Germany remains pro-Israel, the public atmosphere in the country is affecting the Merkel government’s attitude, particularly in terms of the Iranian nuclear plan.Israel’s great fear is that the increasing anti-Israel mood in the German society, economy and media will eventually influence the German government’s policy on this issue for the worse.”Germans view Israel—and Iran—as a great danger to world peace. German tourists don’t visit Israel, while the number of tourists from neighboring Poland exceeds the number of visitors from Germany,” said a source in Jerusalem.”The Germans are filled with prejudice against Israel. Our PR delegates are pulling their hair out in frustration when they meet young and old people there. More than once they hear remarks like, ‘That’s not your country,’ ‘It’s a shame that a Jewish country was established on stolen land,’ ‘Israel is treating the Palestinians like the Nazis treated the Jews’ and ‘We are equally responsible towards the Palestinians as we are towards the Jews.’”

Recent German public opinion polls show that 81 percent of Germans do not believe their nation should support Israel militarily if it were attacked. Fifty-seven percent of Germans think that their government should not even send money if Israel were attacked. More shocking than both these statistics, however, is that these polls show that almost a third of Germans have no qualms about comparing today’s Israel with fascist-era Germany.

The fact is that most Germans regard both Israel and Iran as a threat to their concept of a new world order. To learn more about how Germany will deal with both of these nations, read “Can Israel Trust Germany?” and “The Last Crusade.”