Interview in the USA: Merz: We have “a kind of imported anti -Semitism”

Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) sees migration as an important cause of anti -Semitism in Germany. When asked what he was doing in his country to contain anti-Semitism, Merz replied in an interview by the US broadcaster Fox News in English: You do everything you can to reduce the number of anti-Semitic incidents. “We pursue those who violate the law, and frankly, we have a kind of imported anti -Semitism with this large number of migrants” that have been in Germany since 2015.

The wording of “imported anti -Semitism” was a topic a few months ago at the institutionally independent and voluntary campaign “Unwort of the Year”. This time the publicist and political scientist Saba -Nur Cheema and Meron Mendel, publicist, historian, educator and director of the Anne Frank educational institution were part of the jury – and Kürten “imported anti -Semitism” at her personal word of 2024.

The expression suggests that Jewish hatred, especially with the influx of migrants, had become a problem, it was said. The term is mainly used in right -wing circles to exclude Muslims and people with a migration biography “and distract from their own anti -Semitism,” said the jury.

Anti -Semitic incidents increased strongly in Germany in 2024

In the recently published annual report of the Federal Association of Research and Information Center Anti-Semitism (Rias), 8,627 anti-Semitic incidents were recorded for the past year, 77 percent more than in 2023. According to this, 5,857 cases were classified as “Israel-related anti-Semitism”, more than twice as many as in the previous year. Among other things, Rias understands that Jews in Germany are liable for actions by the Israeli government when the state is demonized and his right to exist is denied. A right -wing extremist background was registered for 544 incidents – the highest number since the beginning of the nationwide comparison 2020.