German Chancellor Frederich Merz visited the Chabad Lubavich Berlin brass along with several high-profile German officials on Monday and expressed a message of solidarity with the Jewish community, after a recent rise in antisemitism in the country.
The visit, which also included the President of the Bundestag (German parliament), Julia Klöckner, represents the highest meeting between German officials and leaders from the Jewish community in recent years.
During the visit, the German officials met with Berlin’s Rabbi Yehuda Teichtal and toured the German-Jewish community educational institutions and central synagogue.
There, Chancellor Merz gave a speech against anti-Semitism and emphasized Germany’s commitment to protecting the security of the country’s Jews.
“The very fact that heads of state come here is a clear statement. The Chancellor has repeatedly expressed his support for Jewish life in Berlin, and this visit underlines this in no uncertain terms,” said Teichtal after the visit.
At the end of the tour, the Chancellor and members of the delegation met with students studying at Chabad institutions in the city and heard about the ongoing development of Jewish life in Berlin, despite security and social challenges.
Officials of Germany’s Jewish community said the visit represented a significant message of solidarity from the German government.
Antisemitism ‘everywhere’ in German universities
Ron Dekel, president of the Jewish Students’ Union of Germany (JSUD), told The Jerusalem Post on Thursday that “It’s not possible right now for German students to study in a German university without facing antisemitism.”
In an interview with the Post‘s international affairs correspondent, Mathilda Heller, Dekel recalled an antisemitic situation he experienced after an event in the Bundestag with a colleague from JSUD to discuss the rise in antisemitism with German politicians.
He explained that, soon after leaving, just meters from the Parliament, two women approached him in their car, playing Palestinian music and driving slowly past.
Dekel told the Post that the women followed him and his colleague for around 200 meters. The driver screamed, “F**k Israel, free Palestine,” and showed Dekel the middle finger; then the car drove off.
“This kind of thing just happens constantly to German Jews in general, especially to young Jews,” Dekel said, adding that antisemitism in German universities was widespread.
Mathilda Heller contributed to this report.
