(AFP) - World Jewish Congress President Ronald Lauder has condemned the 13-percent of vote picked up by the openly anti-immigrant AfD (Alternative for Germany) party in Sunday's election, saying, "it is abhorrent that the AfD party, a disgraceful reactionary movement which recalls the worst of Germany's past and should be outlawed, now has the ability within the German parliament to promote its vile platform."
Josef Schuster, president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, said that "unfortunately, our worst fears have come true: a party that tolerates far-right views in its ranks and incites hate against minorities in our country is today not only in almost all state parliaments but also represented in the Bundestag." He added, "I expect all our democratic forces to unveil the real face of the AfD and to expose the party's empty, populist promises," calling on mainstream parties to close ranks and kick the upstarts out in the next election.