VIENNA, AUSTRIA - In a rare open attack, Israeli Ambassador to Germany Ron Prosor accused leading German weekly Der Spiegel of abusing the memory of the Holocaust and spreading baseless "fairytales" demonizing Israel.
Prosor referred to an interview, which was published on January 27, International Holocaust Remembrance Day, by Der Spiegel with Israeli-American historian Omer Bartov, who is considered an expert on Holocaust and genocide studies.
The interview was published as a main story on the publication's website under the headline "The Holocaust is Israel's guide to inhumanity." In the interview, Bartov was asked if the Holocaust didn't serve the Israelis as a lesson of humanity.
Bartov, who has accused Israel in the past of "committing war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocidal actions," answered: "On the contrary, it serves a lesson of inhumanity. To make it clear, the Holocaust serves the Israeli Jews to consider themselves as being beyond any moral and ethical borders."
In an open letter to the chief editor of Der Spiegel, Prosor wrote that the decision to interview Bartov on International Holocaust Remembrance Day was no coincidence and emphasized that it is not the first time that the highest circulating weekly in Germany intentionally chose a hateful editorial line against Israel by offering a stage to known self-hating Israelis and antisemitic Jews. "Bartov and Der Spiegel - a couple that one can meet only in a nightmare," wrote Prosor.
"In an obviously hateful editorial decision, Der Spiegel decided not to highlight the story of the last Holocaust survivors or emphasize the importance of Holocaust education for generations to come but instead left the stage to an Israeli, willing to accuse his own country of inhumanity. That wasn't the first time nor a coincidence", wrote the ambassador, formerly director-general of the Israeli foreign ministry, to Dirk Kurbjuwelt, chief editor of the German weekly.
"From the well-known chorus of Israelis eaten by self-hate and antisemitic Jews, such as [Israeli-German director of the Anna Frank Education Center in Frankfurt] Meron Mandel, [US-German writer] Deborah Feldman and [Israeli-German philosopher] Omri Boehm, it was Omer Bartov who made his big solo appearances this time."
Mander, Feldman, and Boehm are three of the Israeli and Jewish anti-Zionists and "Israelkritiker" (critics of Israel) who are interviewed regularly and almost uniquely in German media outlets such as Der Spiegel on issues that concern Israel, thus creating the impression that a majority of Israelis are opposing their State.
"He [Bartov] has misused the memory of the Holocaust to spread a twisted, hateful message," continues Prosor. "If only Der Spiegel had the courage to write these claims instead of hiding behind interview partners. Der Spiegel was only too happy to offer him a platform because your publication has specialized for a long time in making an incomplete snapshot of the basis of unfounded fairytale stories about Israel."
"Bartov and Der Spiegel - a couple that one otherwise only meets in nightmares. For Der Spiegel, Hamas does not exist, a heinous terrorist organization that built terror tunnels, planned for years mass murders, abused civilian infrastructure, and in a single day massacred, raped, burnt, and kidnapped 1,200 Jews. Acknowledging these facts would disrupt the carefully curated narrative on which Der Spiegel depends," Prosor continued.
"In the week of the October 7 massacre, your front page featured a picture of an Israeli coffin, wrapped in a flag, with an Israeli soldier kneeling next to it. The subliminal message was unmistakable: Who are the victims? Soldiers. What's the nature of the war [declared on Israel]? Symmetrical and justified."
"In the week in which the world commemorates the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, Der Spiegel is also offering Muslims in Germany a platform to claim that they are the real victims of the attack of October 7. This goes far beyond relativizing the Holocaust. Meanwhile, we still hear the screams of our murdered brothers and sisters, who were set on fire, raped, buried in their homes, and abducted into the dark tunnels of Hamas. Shame on you!" Prosor concluded.
Previous accusations of antisemitism against "Der Spiegel"
In the past, Der Spiegel has been accused quite often by Jewish organizations, including the Central Council of the Jews in Germany - the representative organ of the German Jewish community, and media experts of spreading antisemitic ideas mainly in its reporting on Israel.
An article published by the renowned German conservative daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung in November 2023 exposed the double game of Der Spiegel regarding antisemitism: "Der Spiegel writes that Jews in Germany don't feel secure anymore. However, this newspaper has contributed to the spread of antisemitism. It is pure hypocrisy".
It is, though, the first time that an Israeli ambassador to Germany attacked openly and directly the weekly, which has by its high circulation a significant influence on German decision-makers and public opinion, for its intentional antisemitic anti-Israel reporting.