Newsletter
Newsletter Support JNS

Germany censures Israel’s linking of NGOs to terrorism

Israel said its decision was due to NGO financing of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a designated terror group.

Entrance to the German Foreign Office building in Berlin. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.
Entrance to the German Foreign Office building in Berlin. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.

The German government criticized Israel’s decision on Oct. 22 to name six Palestinian NGOs as terrorist groups.

“We are very concerned by the Israeli decision,” said a spokeswoman from the German foreign ministry on Wednesday, reported AFP. “We are waiting for further information from the Israeli government.”

Jerusalem said its decision was due to NGO financing of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a designated terror group by Israel, the United States and a number of other countries. Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz accused the NGOs of secretly working with the group.

Earlier this month, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett greeted visiting German Chancellor Angela Merkel at a special Cabinet meeting at the King David Hotel in Jerusalem by stating that the alliance between their two countries had “turned into a friendship.”

With the center-left Social Democrats in Germany emerging as the victor in last month’s elections, it remains to be seen how the new relationship will move forward.

The president condemned violence “by a lawless mob in Judea and Samaria,” prompting criticism from the national security minister.
Days earlier, a Jewish security group warned police about a heightened security risk at the Chanukah event.
The prominent Jewish Democrat says she will use her “seniority and clout” in a district that has long elected Black representatives.
The first such legal move on behalf of a Palestinian against the terror group at the International Criminal Court has gone unanswered since December.
A 25-year-old faces hate crime charges after two Jewish men were attacked near a Hendon shul.
“I do think perhaps there is the possibility that in the next few hours the world will get some good news,” Washington’s top diplomat said.