Josef Schuster, president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, warned this week that large numbers of Jews could leave the country if the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) enters a future government, the dpa news agency reported.
Speaking to members of the Christian Social Union (CSU) serving in the federal parliament, Schuster said the situation for German Jews has become “increasingly problematic" in recent years.
Schuster noted that opinion polls ahead of state elections this year have caused him “great concern," stressing that government participation by a far-right party such as the AfD would be “definitely problematic for Jewish life in Germany." At the federal level, he added, Jewish life in Germany would no longer be compatible with an AfD role in government.
He voiced hope that Germany’s conservative parties, including the CSU, understand that a far-right party that threatens Jews and seeks close ties with Russia cannot be considered a coalition partner.
Schuster described antisemitism in Germany as more than an underlying issue, pointing specifically to the AfD, despite its attempts to “keep it under wraps."
Five of Germany’s 16 states are set to hold parliamentary elections this year. Current polling places the AfD at 38 percent in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and 40 percent in Saxony-Anhalt - well ahead of all other parties.
AfD, which was formed in 2013, entered Germany’s national parliament with 12.6% of the vote in 2017.
The party has a history of controversial statements, particularly surrounding the Holocaust. The party’s leader, Björn Höcke, caused a firestorm in February of 2017 when he suggested that Germany should end its decades-long tradition of acknowledging and atoning for its Nazi past.
AfD chairman Alexander Gauland in 2018 described the Nazi period as a mere "speck of bird poo in over 1,000 years of successful German history".
He had previously asserted, however, that Jews should not fear the strong election showing by AfD and indicated that he was ready to meet with German Jewish leaders “at any time."