germany -

German chancellor issues rare public criticism of Israel, saying Gaza war ‘can no longer be justified’

May 27, 2025May 27, 2025Jesse Orine

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has issued a rare public rebuke of Israel, saying he felt compelled to speak out because “international humanitarian law is really being violated” in Gaza. The comments come as the Israeli army is expanding its fighting in Gaza in order to, it says, take control of the vast majority of the […]

Germany formally classifies far-right AfD party as extremist, drawing Jewish group’s praise

May 2, 2025May 2, 2025Jesse Orine

Weeks after it was shut out of Germany’s new government, the far-right party Alternative for Germany has been designated as an extremist group by the country’s domestic intelligence agency. The move is another blow to the party, known as AfD, following its unprecedented second-place finish in national elections earlier this year. The party has a […]

Citing post-Holocaust doctrine, Germany seeks to deport 4 pro-Palestinian protesters

April 1, 2025April 1, 2025Jesse Orine

Germany is moving to deport four foreign residents of Berlin over their alleged activity at pro-Palestinian protests, in a move that appears likely to test a foundational law enacted in the wake of the Holocaust. Three of the residents are citizens of the European Union, which normally allows free movement between member states. Kasia Wlaszczyk […]

Frankfurt’s Jewish community launches its own sexual abuse hotline amid crises and pressure

March 27, 2025March 27, 2025Jesse Orine

BERLIN — Keren Kesselmann felt alone. Her male colleague in a Frankfurt Jewish communal institution had been making sexual advances, despite her rejections. One day the colleague cornered her in the workplace and forcibly tried to kiss her. She ran to a female colleague. “’I can’t take this anymore,’” she said. “And then I told […]

Take it from a German Jew: The AfD and its supporters aren’t making Jews safer

January 28, 2025January 28, 2025Jesse Orine

BERLIN — Several years ago, the newspaper where I am an editor in Germany made an unusual decision: We would not interview any politicians associated with Alternative for Germany, a political party that was then merely on the far-right fringe of public opinion. It wasn’t a choice we took lightly. The Jüdische Allgemeine is the […]

German woman who lives in home looted from Jews must give it up, judge rules

December 31, 2024December 31, 2024Jesse Orine

BERLIN — A German court has ruled that an 85-year-old woman and her son who live in a property sold under duress by its Jewish owners in 1939 must give up their home. The ruling earlier this month capped a decade of legal wrangling over the home, located in Wandlitz, outside Berlin. For many paying […]

Gold the third most popular investment in Germany

October 11, 2024October 11, 2024David Rutman

In 2022, Germany was the second largest market for retail gold investment. It boasted a 185 tonne net bar and coin demand, but that number slumped to 47 tonnes in 2023 and just 5 tonnes in the first half of this year. But that isn’t to say Germany has lost its gold-buying ways, according to […]

Germany to resume arms deliveries to Saudi Arabia with IRIS-T missiles

January 10, 2024January 10, 2024David Rutman

Germany has approved the delivery of 150 IRIS-T air-to-air missiles to Saudi Arabia, a government spokesperson said on Wednesday, resuming arms exports to the kingdom banned since the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018. The deal was authorized by Germany’s federal security council in December, according to a document from the economy ministry […]