German Jews feel unsafe: Israeli ambassador
Pastor Dale Morgan
Saturday October 21, 10:24 PM
*German Jews feel unsafe: Israeli ambassador*
The Israeli ambassador to Germany has called the rise of far-right
organisations in Germany "worrying" and said Jews in the country "do not
feel safe."
"Antisemitism, the number of neo-Nazis and the tendency towards violence
have risen," Shimon Stein told the Neue Osnabrucker Zeitung, which
published the interview in full on its website Saturday.
"The current trend is worrying and calls for a mobilisation of the whole
society," he said.
The governing coalition in Germany decided on Friday to increase the
budget for fighting right wing extremism by 5.0 million euros (3.96
million dollars) next year.
Commenting on the the entry of far-right deputies into three regional
parliaments, the ambassador said "it is not a threat to democracy, but I
think that it has gone beyond the stage of being a marginal phenomenon."
"I have the feeling that Jews in Germany do not feel safe. They are not
always able to practice their religion freely," he said, particularly
noting the strict security measures necessary at religious gatherings.
"The desire for normality remains frustrated" the ambassador added.