German coalition, opposition agree on anti-Semitism crackdown

Germany's ruling coalition and the conservative opposition have agreed on a joint call for government crackdowns against anti-Semitism despite concerns the effort could be misused to curb criticism of Israel.

The draft motion declares that 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 centre-left coalition announced the agreement on Saturday along with the opposition conservative CDU/CSU bloc.

The motion, which is not legally binding, is set to be debated and voted on in Germany's parliament, the Bundestag, as early as next week.

The draft calls for "loopholes in the law to be closed and repressive options to be consistently exploited" against those deemed by the German state to be anti-Semitic, particularly in criminal law and in residence, asylum and citizenship law.

The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of anti-Semitism is to 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 labels many types of criticism of Israel as anti-Semitism.

In a letter to lawmakers last year, a group of leading German lawyers warned that the use of the IHRA definition would lead to "highly problematic terrain in terms of both constitutional and international law."

The motion also accuses immigrants from Muslim countries of being particularly prone to anti-Semitism, as opposed to native Germans.

"In recent months, the alarming extent of anti-Semitism based on immigration from countries in North Africa and the Middle East, in which anti-Semitism and hostility towards Israel are widespread, also due to Islamist and anti-Israeli state indoctrination, has become clear," the draft states.

The German political parties also contend in the draft that anti-Semitism has been on the rise among left-wing activists, with the draft criticizing a "relativizing approach and increasing Israel-related and left-wing anti-imperialist anti-Semitism."

The president of the German-Israeli Society, Volker Beck, described himself as highly satisfied with the motion presented on Saturday.
"The clear and unconditional support for Israel's self-defence by the German Bundestag helps to correct irritations that have been sent from Berlin in recent months," he said.

Beck's remark about "irritations" appeared to be a reference to comments last month from German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, who said that armaments exports to foreign countries including Israel would be examined within the framework of humanitarian, EU and international law.

The draft unveiled on Saturday was met with sharp criticism from a number of organizations as well as several hundred activists, artists, lawyers and academics.

In an open letter, they backed a recently published alternative proposal drafted by the sociologist Armin Nassehi and former Green Party member of parliament Jerzy Montag, among others.
That proposal defines the protection of Jewish life in Germany as a task for the state and society as a whole.

It also states that the massacre carried out by Hamas and other extremist groups on October 7, 2023 is "unreservedly" condemned, but at the same time notes the "immeasurable suffering" of the Palestinian civilian population in the Gaza Strip.

Israel has been waging an ongoing military offensive in Gaza since the attack, in which tens of thousands of Palestinians have been killed.

Instead of relying on "uncertain definitions," the open letter called for concrete measures to be taken such as reforming civil rights law or making changes to education.

Supporters of the letter include Amnesty International Germany and Medico International. Other signers include Susanne Baer, a former judge on Germany's Constitutional Court, as well as climate activist Luisa Neubauer, migration researcher Naika Foroutan and well-known Austrian writer Eva Menasse.