Major German supporter of Israel arrested for drug possession

One of Israel’s strongest political supporters in Germany has been found with illegal drugs during a police search, according to German press/

Volker Beck, the Green Party’s parliamentary spokesman for interior affairs and religion, and president of the German-Israeli Parliamentary Friendship Group of the Bundestag since 2014, will give up both roles, a spokesman from his office tells the Spiegel Online magazine. The tabloid Bild reports that the substance found was likely crystal meth.

Beck, 55, who had addressed 150 members of the Rabbinical Conference of Europe visiting Germany’s capital on Monday, was subjected to a search Tuesday while on foot in the city and did not resist, Berlin state prosecutor Martin Steltner tells Spiegel Online. The prosecutor did not confirm reports about the substance itself, which is undergoing a chemical evaluation. Beck reportedly was found with 0.6 grams of the substance.

In a statement, Beck says he had “always supported a liberal drug policy” and that his attorney would address pending charges.

— JTA