Israel’s ambassador to Germany is urging the German government to protect the country’s Jewish community in the aftermath of multiple incidents of synagogue vandalism and other anti-Semitism in the last week.
"I urgently request the German authorities to do everything to ensure the security of our community here," Ambassador Jeremy Issacharoff said on Friday. He was being interviewed by ARD, Germany’s public broadcaster.
Issacharoff said that the Israeli government is worried about a string of anti-Semitic events in Bonn, Munster and Dusseldorf.
"The conflict in the Middle East has nothing to do with the Jewish community here in Germany," he said.
Issacharoff gave the statement after a sudden uptick in anti-Semitic incidents took place following the escalation in Israel and Gaza.
Other German politicians have also spoken out against the surge in anti-Semitism.
German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier said on Friday in an interview with the Bild newspaper that the incidents were “a crime.”
"Whoever burns Star of David flags or shouts anti-Semitic slogans on our streets is not only abusing the right to demonstrate but committing a crime,” he said. "We neither want to, nor will we, tolerate the hatred of Jews.”
Also on Friday, the German government’s anti-Semitism commissioner, Felix Klein, called for Islamic organizations to “distance themselves” from attacks on Jews and on synagogues. He requested that the organizations release a call for non-silence and urge their community to lower tensions, reported Deutsche Welle.
"Jews here in Germany were clearly being held responsible for the behavior of the Israeli government, which they are completely not part of,” he said, calling it “pure anti-Semitism.”