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Israeli envoy: Germany cannot be ‘blind in its left eye’

Following the AfD’s historic election gains, Ron Prosor warned that left-wing antisemitism must be confronted as forcefully as extremism on the right.

Ron Prosor speaks at a conference in New York City, USA. April 29, 2012. Photo by Marc Israel Sellem/POOL/FLASH90.
Ron Prosor speaks at a conference in New York City, USA. April 29, 2012. Photo by Marc Israel Sellem/POOL/FLASH90.

Amid concern in mainstream political circles in Germany regarding Sunday’s electoral gains by the right-wing Alternative for Germany party (AfD), Israel’s ambassador in Berlin warned that left-wing extremism and antisemitism must not be ignored.

“Germany looks to the right. It must not be blind in its left eye,” Ron Prosor wrote on X. “The danger of right-wing extremism is obvious. It is discussed, named, and condemned. Left-wing antisemitism deserves exactly the same clarity,” he added.

In Sunday’s Saxony-Anhalt state election, the AfD won 43.8% of the vote, up from 20.8% in 2021, becoming the state’s largest party for the first time and finishing just three seats short of an absolute majority in the 83-seat state parliament.

In his X post, Prosor named a recent example, in which youth movement activists tied to the left-wing party Die Linke distributed stickers to students featuring an AK-47 machine gun and the Palestinian flag. “That is not ‘activism’ that can be relativized. A firewall against antisemitism must not recognize any political direction. Jewish life and Israel’s right to exist are red lines—whether attacked by right-wing extremists, left-wing extremists, or Islamists. No blind spots. No excuses. No double standards,” wrote Prosor.

Israel maintains an official policy of non-engagement with AfD, though it has reversed similar policies regarding France’s National Rally party and other right-wing European parties.

One of the main issues raised by critics of AfD has been expressions of pro-Nazi sentiment, including by party representatives.

Last year, an internal AfD panel said it had cleared two AfD politicians, Maximilian Krah and Matthias Helferich, who were sidelined over remarks they made relating to the Nazis.

Krah resigned from the AfD’s federal executive board before the European elections in June 2024 after telling an Italian newspaper that not all members of Adolf Hitler’s SS were “automatically criminals.”

Helferich resigned from AfD’s executive board following the emergence of a leaked internet chat where he said he was “the friendly face of the Nazis.” He later said this was a parody of left-wing criticism against him.

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