German outcry over Merz's Remark on Israel's 'Dirty Work' – DW – 06/18/2025
06/18/2025
June 18, 2025
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Tuesday praised Israel for being "courageous enough" to attack Iran's nuclear site, calling it the "dirty work" done for the West. His remarks have sparked criticism in Germany, where many had hoped for a more critical stance from Berlin in the ongoing Israel-Iran conflict.
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Local Germany
39 minutes ago
- Local Germany
'Imported Antisemitism': How German leaders are blaming foreigners for country's woes
Germany's conservative party leaders have a problem - they're in charge now. Under the leadership of Chancellor Friedrich Merz, the conservative Christian Union parties (CDU/CSU) are now leading the federal black-red coalition government, with many of the Federal Cabinet's positions filled by Union party politicians. The conservatives fought hard to win back a leading position in Germany, and their success means they're tasked with solving the country's problems, and there are quite a few difficult problems to be dealt with. Rather than keep their eyes focused on the tasks at hand, a number of conservative party leaders have made comments casting blame on others. In doing so, they've taken a page out of the populist playbook - reframing any given problem as one brought about or made worse by foreigners, and claiming they can fix it by cracking down on asylum seekers, legal migrants, and even international students. Here are a few recent examples of CDU or CSU leaders blaming immigrants and foreigners for various issues. 'Imported Antisemitism' The most high-profile example came during Friedrich Merz's visit to Washington D.C. to meet US President Trump , when the Chancellor suggested, in an interview with the right-wing television network Fox News, that Germany was dealing with "imported antisemitism". READ MORE: German Chancellor suggests immigrants have 'imported antisemitism' 'We are doing everything we can to bring these numbers down," Merz told Fox News . "We are prosecuting those who break the law, and frankly, we have a sort of imported antisemitism with this big number of migrants that we have within the last ten years.' US President Donald Trump and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz (L) shake hands during a bilateral meeting in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on June 5, 2025.(Photo by Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP) The interviewer had referred to a report by RIAS (the Federal Association of Departments for Research and Information on Antisemitism), which noted an 80 percent rise in antisemitic incidents between 2023 and 2024. While the report does note a marked increase in incidents attributed to 'foreign ideology,' it nonetheless found that the primary motive behind antisemitic crimes remained right-wing extremist ideology (48 percent). The phrase "imported antisemitism" in German ( importierter Antisemitismus) has previously been called out by the independent organisation Unwort des Jahres as a discriminatory and malicious phrase used by the far-right . Advertisement Education In May, education minister Karin Prien (CDU) made a speech to Germany's largest teachers' union (GEW) in which she announced plans for sweeping reforms and said the government would 'invest billions in Kitas and schools.' READ MORE: What parents in Germany should know about the planned schools shake up However, the implication that a relative decline in educational achievement in Germany can be blamed on the number of children who start school with a poor command of German is problematic. While this is undoubtedly one issue facing German schools, it certainly isn't the whole story. Social inequality expert Marcel Helbig, from Germany's Leibniz Institute for Educational Trajectories, pointed out that ... "The performance at Gymnasien (academic secondary schools), where there are hardly any migrant kids, has also fallen very sharply. "It is more than just a migrant-specific problem that we are dealing with here,' he added. Prien also talked about mandatory support for children whom the tests identify as being behind in their development. Again, the implication seems to be that recent arrivals in the country are somehow unwilling to integrate or accept support on behalf of their children. Healthcare The Federal Ministry of Health recently confirmed that positions for more than 5,000 general practitioners (GP) were vacant in Germany at the end of 2023. In response, Sepp Müller, deputy chairman of the Christian Democrat (CDU) parliamentary group, told Bild that his party was looking at making international medical students pay for their university tuition if they left Germany within five years of graduating. As of now, it seems unlikely that the idea will become government policy. Instead, it feels like yet another attempt to frame a complex healthcare problem as a problem of immigration – of ungrateful foreigners exploiting German generosity. READ ALSO: How foreign students contribute far more to Germany than they cost Advertisement A toxic tone on the topic of immigration broadly Zooming out a bit, the Union's bigger election promise to crackdown on migration is based on an underlying presupposition that many of Germany's problems would be solved if the country had less immigrants. Merz has never made a secret of his desire to pursue a 'migration turnaround'. German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt delivers a statement as he visits the border control station Kiefersfelden. Photo: Michaela Stache / AFP On television in 2023, he insisted that asylum arrangements in Germany needed to be reviewed. On a program on Welt he said, " We need to talk about the pull factors here in Germany...' He accused asylum seekers of "sitting at the doctor's office and getting their teeth redone, while German citizens next door can't get appointments.' Germany's interior minister, Alexander Dobrindt, has echoed these words recently , describing his desire to 'reduce the pull factors' in Germany. In practice, he has suggested, this means less "compassion" and more "order". READ ALSO: 'Scarier things to come' - How foreigners view Germany's immigration crackdown Who is the new German minister in charge of immigration? Advertisement It appears that Merz and Dobrindt's habit of talking about criminals and people who want to exploit Germany's generosity has rubbed off on many of their colleagues, even when they are discussing topics that have little to do with immigration.
Int'l Business Times
2 hours ago
- Int'l Business Times
Iran-Israel War: Latest Developments
Israel and Iran exchanged fire again on Wednesday, the sixth day of strikes in their most intense confrontation in history, fuelling fears of a drawn-out conflict that could engulf the Middle East. Here are the latest developments: Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said Wednesday that air force jets had destroyed Iran's "internal security headquarters" after the army announced it was striking military targets in Tehran. AFP journalists reported hearing blasts in the north and east of the Iranian capital. "Air Force jets have just destroyed the internal security headquarters of the Iranian regime -- the main arm of repression of the Iranian dictator," Katz said in a statement, vowing to "strike symbols of governance and hit the Ayatollah regime wherever it may be". Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said his nation would "never surrender", while warning Israel ally the United States it would suffer "irreparable damage" if it intervenes in the conflict. "This nation will never surrender," Khamenei said in a speech read on state television. "America should know that any military intervention will undoubtedly result in irreparable damage." US President Donald Trump had stepped up his rhetoric, saying on Tuesday that the United States knows where Khamenei is located but will not kill him "for now". In another post, Trump also appeared to demand Iran's "UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER!" as he fuelled speculation over whether the United States would join Israel's attacks. US officials stressed he has not yet made a decision about any intervention. The Israeli military said it targeted a centrifuge facility in overnight strikes on Tehran. Centrifuges are vital for uranium enrichment, the sensitive process that can produce fuel for reactors or, in highly extended form, the core of a nuclear warhead. The UN nuclear watchdog later said two centrifuge production facilities had been destroyed at Karaj, just outside Tehran. Israel's attacks have hit nuclear and military facilities around Iran, as well as residential areas. Residential areas in Israel have also been hit, and foreign governments have scrambled to evacuate their citizens from both countries. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said on Monday that at least 24 people have been killed in Israel and hundreds wounded since Iran's retaliatory strikes began Friday. Iran said on Sunday that Israeli strikes had killed at least 224 people, including military commanders, nuclear scientists and civilians. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said that "regime change is not an objective of this war -- it can be a result, but it's not an objective". French President Emmanuel Macron warned that any attempt to change the government in Iran would result in "chaos". German Chancellor Friedrich Merz expressed support for the campaign Tuesday, saying in an interview that "this is the dirty work Israel is doing for all of us" against Iran's "mullah regime". Iran said Wednesday it had detained five suspected agents of Israel's Mossad intelligence agency on charges of tarnishing the country's image online, Iranian news agencies reported. "These mercenaries sought to sow fear among the public and tarnish the image of the sacred system of the Islamic Republic of Iran through their calculated activities online," the Tasnim and ISNA news agencies quoted a statement from the Revolutionary Guards as saying. Iran announced last week that it was placing temporary restrictions on the internet for the duration of the conflict. Numerous sites and apps have since been at least partially inaccessible. The authorities appealed to the public on Tuesday to "minimise their use of equipment connected to the internet and to take appropriate precautions" online. State television appealed to Iranians on Tuesday to delete WhatsApp from their phones, charging that the messaging app gathers users' location and personal data and "communicates them to the Zionist enemy". A WhatsApp spokesperson hit back against the claims, saying: "We're concerned these false reports will be an excuse for our services to be blocked at a time when people need them the most."
DW
2 hours ago
- DW
Israel-Iran conflict poses major risk for the global economy – DW – 06/18/2025
The conflict between Israel and Iran could plunge the entire global economy into recession. Iran controls the Strait of Hormuz and has threatened to close one of the world's most important energy shipping routes. The Strait of Hormuz is a narrow passageway between Oman and Iran that is a critical route for global oil transportation with tankers carrying crude oil from the Gulf Region to Europe, Asia, and North America. Approximately one-fifth of the world's oil supply passes through the Strait of Hormuz. That makes it the second most important oil route after the Strait of Malacca. And its disruption amid the Israel-Iran conflict could lead to significant increases in oil prices and widespread economic consequences. This video summary was created by AI from the original DW script. It was edited by a journalist before publication.
