Israel’s ambassador to Germany reiterates that Jews who feel unsafe in Europe due to recent anti-Semitic attacks should “come to [Israel] at any time” – an approach recently rejected by the head of Germany’s Jewish community.
In an interview published Sunday in the Berlin daily Tagesspiegel, Yakov Hadas-Handelsman echoes last week’s invitation from Netanyahu that Jews in Europe “consider Israel your home.”
Hadas-Handelsman says he “really does not envy any Jew living in Europe today.”
Israeli Ambassador to Germany Yakov Hadas-Handelsman watches as German President Joachim Gauck lights a menorah during a ceremony to mark 50 years of ties between Israel and Germany. (photo credit: Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
Josef Schuster, head of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, had responded on Feb. 17 to Netanyahu’s invitation by noting that threats against Jews and Jewish institutions were a “worldwide phenomenon” and that “life in Israel as a Jew is not any more secure.”
While Schuster said he recognized that it is only natural for Israel to encourage aliyah, he personally saw no special reason for Jews to consider emigrating now, even with the increased risk of attacks by home-grown jihadists.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said last week that her government would do everything possible to ensure the safety of Jews and their institutions in the country. “We want to continue living together well with the Jews who are in Germany today,” she said.
In Sunday’s interview, Hadas-Handelsman commends Merkel for making it clear that “it is not normal for synagogues and Jewish schools to need police protection.”
— JTA
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