Pro-Israel counter protest in Berlin
Pro-Israel counter protest in BerlinAntonia Yamin, Channel 11 News

Antonia Yamin, Channel 11 News' correspondent in Europe, attended a mass pro-Israel rally in Berlin, Germany, held to counter an anti-Israel, pro-Palestinian Authority demonstration funded by Iran.

"I'm very happy that my statement made so much noise, because now we have a real opportunity to change something," Germany's government commissioner on anti-Semitism, Felix Klein, told Yamin. "If politics and society fight together against anti-Semitism, we have a real chance."

Last Saturday, Klein, warned Jews about the potential dangers of wearing the traditional kippah skullcap in the face of rising anti-Jewish attacks.

Jeremy Issacharoff, Israel's ambassador to Germany, told Yamin that the anti-Israel rally is "intended to encourage extremist incitement against the State of Israel and against Jews, and the demonstration is inspired by the Iranian regime, which calls to 'free all of Palestine' and destroy the State of Israel. It's everything you want - anti-Semitic, anti-Zionist, and anti-human."

Richard Grenell, the US ambassador to Germany, attended the rally wearing a kippah decorated with a picture of the White House.

"I want to make my voice very clear to this crowd. We stand against the hate. We are trying whatever we can do to ban Hezbollah from Germany and from Europe. So we call upon Chancellor Merkel and Foreign Minister Maas again to move towards banning Hezbollah completely from Germany."

Mike Samuel Delberg, a representative of the Berlin Jewish community, said, "We live here in Germany, and it is unthinkable that anti-Semites will walk around our streets and no one will stand in their way."

Turning to Mara Shakanto, a Jewish woman living in Germany, Yamin asked: "Aren't you afraid to walk around with such a large Israeli flag?"

"Yes, of course anyone would be afraid," Shakanto said. "But I think that if we live in fear, it won't help. We need to stand up against the people who want to take our freedom."

"I don't think this story is over," Klein concluded. "We'll examine this well, and I will continue pushing to hold a discussion on whether we can ban the Al Quds parade next year."

Watch the protest (Hebrew video):