Status: 07.10.2023, 22:02 p.m.
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Police vehicles are parked in front of a synagogue in Berlin. © Fabian Sommer/dpa
Following the violence against Israel in Gaza, the security authorities in Germany have increasingly focused on the threat to Jewish and Israeli institutions in Germany.
Berlin - Following the large-scale attack on Israel by the Islamist Hamas, there are calls for immediate consequences by the German government and security authorities. Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser (SPD) has already strengthened the protection of Jewish and Israeli institutions in Germany.
In an interview with the German Press Agency on Saturday, Israeli Ambassador Ron Prosor warned of attacks on facilities in Germany as well. Representatives of the opposition and the traffic light coalition called for swift decisions on financial aid to Palestinians. At the same time, the German government and the EU are called upon to toughen their course towards Iran. Israel's arch-enemy Iran has welcomed the attack.
Faeser told the Bild am Sonntag newspaper that the security authorities were keeping a very close eye on possible supporters of Hamas in the Islamist scene. "In this terrible situation, it is all the more true that the protection of Jews in Germany is our highest priority." All security authorities have been sensitized, and the federal and state governments have closely coordinated their actions.
The CDU security politician Roderich Kiesewetter told the "Spiegel" that the protection for Jewish institutions in Germany must be ramped up quickly. "The Office for the Protection of the Constitution as well as police authorities from the federal and state governments must take a closer look at Palestinian and pro-Iranian groups." Kiesewetter is vice-chairman of the Bundestag's parliamentary oversight body, which oversees the German intelligence services.
Israeli Ambassador Prosor told the German Press Agency that he trusts in the work of the German security authorities. "I know that the mayor of Berlin and also the interior minister now have the matter under control." But Prosor called for a crackdown on the Palestinian network Samidoun, which celebrated Saturday's attack on Israel by distributing sweets on Sonnenallee in the Neukölln district.
Discussion about grants
German Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) called for a quick decision on financial aid to Palestinians. "The terror is shocking. We should not only react to him with words," said the FDP leader of the "Bild am Sonntag". He therefore hoped for a recommendation from Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) on how the German state should proceed with financial support for the Palestinians in the face of this violence. "Any consequences could be implemented immediately," Lindner said.
The chairwoman of the Defense Committee, Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, also called for a review of all aid to the Palestinian Gaza Strip. "The existence of the Jewish state of Israel is rightly part of the inseparable core of Germany's raison d'être," the FDP politician told the newspapers of the Funke media group. "That is why Hamas' cowardly attack on innocent civilians must be taken as an opportunity to thoroughly review the use of all German, EU and UN aid funds destined for the Gaza Strip."
The CDU politician Kiesewetter also questioned previous aid payments for Palestinians. The budget for next year provides around 350 million euros in aid for the Palestinian Authority. The German government should consider freezing the funds so as not to indirectly finance terror against Israel. The German government must also toughen its course towards Tehran. "Hamas is not capable of such a major attack on its own - Iran is behind it."
Michael Roth, chairman of the Bundestag's Foreign Affairs Committee, called on the EU to act. "The EU must finally rethink its Iran policy. Both Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad are financed and supported by Iran," said the SPD politician.
Gregor Gysi, a member of parliament for the Left Party, sees no reason for the German government to stop aid payments to Palestinian organizations. "Palestinian organizations can and must be supported, but Hamas cannot. The attack only comes from her," Gysi told Der Spiegel. Dpa