Germany Criticized for Not Leading Support of Israel

Orit Arfa, jewishjournal.com

Erdan image from

Excerpt:

Although Germany has developed a reputation as one of Israel’s strongest allies in the European Union, keynote speakers at the fifth Israel Congress recently held in Frankfurt criticized the host country’s recent failings on several fronts.

More than 3,000 people from across Europe attended the Nov. 25 event in one of the continent’s strongest displays of grassroots support for Israel.

Israel’s Minister of Strategic Affairs and Public Diplomacy Gilad Erdan, the highest-level Israeli official to address the gathering at the Frankfurt Convention Center, struck a conciliatory tone as the grandson of Auschwitz survivors, but he then rebuked Germany for funding nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) hostile to Israel and for clinging to the Iran deal.

As he expressed optimism for strong Israel-German relations, Erdan said his grandmothers “never imagined their grandson would be standing here in Frankfurt celebrating Israel and Germany’s friendship.” German Chancellor Angela Merkel, he added, “has been clear in rejecting attempts to delegitimize Israel, and the CDU (Christian Democratic Union), as you know, has labeled BDS (boycott, divestment and sanctions) coarse anti-Semitism.”

However, Erdan also called on Germany to lead the European Union in withholding funding of NGOs that indirectly support BDS efforts that seek to delegitimize Israel.

“Germany can and should lead such a reform in the [European Union] because German taxpayers shouldn’t be footing the bill for BDS,” he said. “German government funds are also still going, unfortunately, to [United Nations] bodies that openly promote the demonization and delegitimization of Israel.” ...