“Left-wing antisemitism is more dangerous than right-wing and Islamist antisemitism,” Israeli Ambassador to Germany Ron Prosor told newspapers in the Funke media group on Sunday.
He explained that German authorities are well-versed in dealing with antisemitism on the Right and have both the political and legal means to handle it. In terms of Islamist antisemitism, while it “undermines the democratic order like a Trojan horse,” Germany is “learning how to deal with it,” Prosor argued.
However, according to Prosor, left-wing antisemitism is much more dangerous because it “operates on the boundary between freedom of expression and freedom to incite – and has now clearly crossed that boundary.”
He spoke specifically of left-wing antisemitism within educational and cultural institutions, where people disguise their hatred of Jews under the image of being “educated, morally and politically correct.”
Prosor’s comments came on the anniversary of Kristallnacht, the night when Jewish homes, synagogues, and the few remaining businesses allowed to run in Nazi Germany and Austria were ransacked on November 9, 1938.
Youth party passes resolution denying Israel's right to exist
His comments also reflected his recent criticism of the Left Party, which has come under fire for its rampant antisemitism. Last week, the party’s youth wing passed a controversial resolution during its federal congress that effectively denied Israel’s right to exist.
Party leader Jan van Aken said the adopted motion was “not compatible with the Left Party’s positions” and also condemned what he said were methods of “intimidation, pressure, and exclusion” used against opponents of the resolution during the federal congress.
Tagesspiegel reported that opponents of the resolution reported experiencing “psychological terror” and left the congress early after party members said they would “purge the Zionists” and would visit them in their hotel rooms at night.
Prosor responded angrily to both the resolution and the handling of it by the party: “The red line has been crossed. The youth wing of the Left Party reveals the true face of left-wing antisemitism, which is otherwise well concealed,” he wrote on X/Twitter.
“Since the party leadership is apparently unwilling or unable to act, it now depends on the democratic parties. They must take a clear stance, unequivocally condemn these machinations, and make it clear: There is no place in Germany for such dark views.”
Van Aken, however, denied that antisemitism is a problem of the Left specifically, telling Tagesspiegel: “Antisemitism in Germany is above all a phenomenon of mainstream society.”
The Left Party is set to vote on two anti-Israel motions at its party conference on November 15, including one accusing Israel of genocide and another calling for support for the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement.