During a meeting on Thursday for employees of German media company Axel Springer, CEO Mathias Döpfner spoke to complaints raised about an Israeli flag flying outside the company’s Berline headquarters.
He had a strong message for any employees who complained about the Israeli flag being outside their building in a message of solidarity with the Jewish community and Israel as a wave of anti-Semitic demonstrations took place last month.
His message to them: They should look for new jobs.
He made the statement during a meeting for the company’s 16,000 workers where he addressed complaints from some of the company’s employees about the Israel flag, reported the Daily Wire.
“I think, and I’m being very frank with you, a person who has an issue with an Israeli flag being raised for one week here, after anti-Semitic demonstrations, should look for a new job,” he said. “After these weeks of terrible anti-Semitic demonstrations, we at our building headquarters raised next to the European flag, and the German flag, (and) the Berlin flag, said let’s raise for one week the Israeli flag as a gesture of solidarity. We do not accept this kind of aggressive anti-Semitic movements.”
He said that some employees said they didn’t want to work for a company that flies the Israeli flag.
“So, I think that is also a good point... This person does not fit the company and its values… It’s very simple,” he said.
Axel Springer, which was founded in West Germany in 1946, is the main digital publisher in Europe, owning Bild, Die Welt, Business Insider, Politico Europe and other media organizations. It also owns Israel’s largest classified ad website, Yad2.
On its website, as one of its five essential values, Axel Springer lists: “We support the Jewish people and the right of existence of the State of Israel.”