German citizens must ensure the protection of Jews living in the country from the wave of anti-Semitic attacks sparked by the Israel-Hamas war, Chancellor Olaf Scholz has said.
“Anyone who is attacking Jews in Germany is attacking all of us. That’s why we should all stand up for the protection of Jews in Germany. It’s about civic courage,” Scholz told the Mannheimer Morgen newspaper over the weekend.
Scholz added that Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck “formulated the position of the entire federal government very well in his video on social media.”
In a ten-minute address published on Wednesday, Habeck said that “too few” German Muslims have taken a stand in defense of Jews at home and against the actions of the Palestinian militant group Hamas, which killed around 1,400 people, mostly civilians, during its October 7 incursion into Israel.
Habeck called on the Muslim community to distance itself from the manifestations of anti-Semitism which have increased dramatically following the recent outbreak of violence in the Middle East.
Speaking to Mannheimer Morgen, Scholz said Berlin is working with Israel and “using all contacts in the region to facilitate the unconditional release of all hostages” held by Hamas.
This week, Interior Minister Nancy Faeser announced a ban on the activities of Hamas, which is listed as a terrorist organization in Germany.