Germany’s Merz warns criticism of Israel used as guise for ‘poison of antisemitism’

 German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Wednesday that criticism of Israel was increasingly being used in Germany as a pretext for stoking hatred against Jews.

Speaking at an event to mark the 75th anniversary of the founding of the Central Council of Jews, Merz said that antisemitism had “become louder, more open, more brazen, more violent almost every day” since the Hamas-led massacre on October 7, 2023, that ignited the Gaza war.

“‘Criticism of Israel’ and the crudest perpetrator-victim reversal is increasingly a pretext under which the poison of antisemitism is spread,” he said, warning that “antisemitic rhetoric is becoming normalized.”

Germany is one of Israel’s closest allies in Europe and is its second-biggest weapons supplier after the US. Its close ties to Israel are rooted in its sense of historical responsibility for the Nazi Holocaust — a policy known as the “Staatsraison.”

Last month, however, Germany suspended exports of weaponry that could be used in the Gaza Strip because of Israel’s plan to expand its operations there — the first time united Germany had acknowledged denying military support to its longtime ally.

The decision followed mounting pressure from the public and Merz’s junior coalition partner over the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

In his speech in Berlin on Wednesday, Merz mentioned the about-face, saying that criticism of the Israeli government “must be possible,” but added: “Our country suffers damage to its own soul when this criticism becomes a pretext for hatred of Jews, or if it even leads to the demand that Germany should turn its back on Israel.”

Merz also criticized the Flanders Festival Ghent’s decision last week to cancel the Munich Philharmonic’s concert, as it was going to be led by the orchestra’s future Israeli chief conductor, Lahav Shani.

“Jewish and Israeli artists are being subjected to ideological tests and marginalized solely because of their origins, solely because of their faith,” Merz said.

The 36-year-old conductor also spoke out about the controversy Tuesday, calling the cancellation of his appearance at the Ghent festival “regrettable.”

The festival’s management had yielded to “political pressures,” said Shani, who officially takes over as conductor of the Munich orchestra for the 2026-2027 season and is currently music director of the Israel Philharmonic.

They had demanded “that I make a political declaration despite my long-standing and publicly expressed commitment to peace and reconciliation,” he said.

There has been an outpouring of support for Shani since the cancellation.

On Monday, he performed with the Munich orchestra at a festival in the German capital after being invited by the Berlin Philharmonic on short notice in a show of solidarity.

Merz speaks at ceremony rededicating synagogue destroyed in the Holocaust

Wednesday’s address was Merz’s second emotional speech about antisemitism this week. He appeared to fight back tears as he spoke at a ceremony rededicating a synagogue destroyed in the Holocaust on Monday.

Speaking at the opening of the Reichenbachstrasse Synagogue in Munich, which was devastated during the Kristallnacht pogrom in November 1938, that is widely seen as the starting point of the Holocaust, Merz got emotional as he recalled Nazi atrocities.

“Jewish life in Germany will one day get by without police protection again,” Merz declared. “We must not get used to the fact that this has been necessary for decades. I declare war on all forms of old and new antisemitism in Germany on behalf of the entire federal government of the Federal Republic of Germany.”

The Reichenbachstrasse Synagogue was built by architect Gustav Meyerstein in 1931, designed in the Bauhaus and New Objectivity style. It originally featured amber-colored marble around the Torah shrine, turquoise blue on the walls and a Pompeian red design in the foyer.

After Kristallnacht, the Nazis turned the synagogue into a workshop and warehouse. After the war ended, Jewish survivors made minor repairs and consecrated it in 1947 as the main synagogue of Munich, a role it served until the Ohel Jakob Synagogue was opened in 2007.

Led by German entrepreneur and journalist Rachel Salamander, the synagogue has now been faithfully restored in a minimalist style, with simple wooden benches, colored walls, and stained glass windows. It will serve as a cultural space as well as a functioning synagogue.