DayofPal—Germany moves to advance a bill that would criminalize the public’s denial of Israel’s right to exist, becoming the only country to do so.
Meanwhile, it refuses to recognize Palestine as a state at a time European governments move toward sanctions against Israel over the genocide in the Gaza Strip and settlers’ crimes in the West Bank.
Germany’s upper house, the Bundesrat, advanced a bill on July 10 that would amend the criminal code to make publicly denying Israel’s right to exist a criminal offense, classifying it as incitement to hatred and antisemitic.
If passed into full law, Germany would stand alone globally in criminalizing this specific form of speech.
The timing and framing have drawn sharp criticism. Germany is advancing legal protection for Israel’s existence at a time it continues to withhold recognition of a Palestinian state, a recognition now extended by the overwhelming majority of United Nations member states, including Western European countries.
The move also runs against the prevailing direction of European policy. EU foreign ministers met in Brussels this week to discuss imposing an import ban on products from illegal Israeli settlements, with Ireland having become the first EU member state to pass such legislation.
As other European governments respond to the genocide in the Gaza Strip with sanctions, trade restrictions, and recognition of Palestine, Germany is moving in the opposite direction, deepening its legal and political protection of Israel.
Germany has consistently been one of Israel’s closest allies in Europe since World War II, with its stance shaped by the doctrine of *Staatsräson*, or “reason of state.”
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