Jurgen Mackert, MEE, 6 May 2025

As Israel’s global isolation grows, Berlin deepens its alliance with Tel Aviv – criminalising dissent, rewarding lobby groups, and eroding rights in the name of fighting antisemitism

A pro-Palestine activist is led away by police officers during a demonstration against Israel’s war on Gaza at the Free University of Berlin, Germany, on 7 May 2024 (Tobias Schwarz/AFP)

On 28 March, the Zionist German Jewish weekly Judische Allgemeine Zeitung happily announced that Tel Aviv would become Berlin’s newest twin city, with all factions of the Berlin House of Representatives agreeing to the decision.

A few days later, Der Tagesspiegel, one of Berlin’s so-called “quality newspapers,” declared that “the two metropolises have a lot in common”.

What an abysmal disgrace: the representatives of the self-proclaimed parties of the “democratic centre” in the Berlin House of Representatives – Christian Democrats, Social Democrats, and Greens – have decided, together with the “Left” and the fascist Alternative für Deutschland (AfD), to move even closer to the genocidal butchers in Tel Aviv.

They do so even as large parts of the world are gradually distancing themselves from this regime.

Choosing a twin city is far more than a symbolic act, especially when that city is the capital of a state ruled by war criminals responsible for an ongoing genocide.

New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch

Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters

Such a decision reflects common interests and values that supposedly bind the cities and their populations together.

And the ones on display in this partnership are telling: while one side commits genocide, the other supports, promotes, and finances it; while one carries out ethnic cleansing, the other feigns ignorance; while one deliberately targets children, journalists, and medical personnel, the other looks away and prattles on about human rights; while one starves a people to death, the other merely shrugs.

Together, they share a disregard for international law and the authority of the International Criminal Court.

This list is far from complete, but it is already one of the most repulsive imaginable. Berlin and Tel Aviv, as the German press rightly points out, do indeed have a lot in common.

Historical amnesia

The decision by Berlin’s representatives sends a clear message to the world about what the German capital now stands for – and marks an unprecedented act of historical amnesia.

The government of a city that was under siege decades ago, and continues to invoke that experience as central to its collective memory, has now switched sides.

A city that remembers its own siege should have named Gaza City as its twin – not the capital of those enforcing one

Berlin is aligning itself with the capital of a country that has not only besieged the Gaza Strip for 17 years and created the largest prison on earth and put Palestinians “on a diet” – but has also been committing genocide for more than 18 months – a campaign fully supported by the people of Tel Aviv.

If the experience of siege were truly as significant and defining for Berlin as its politicians so often claim, with great solemnity, then there would have been only one natural and fitting twin city: Gaza City.

Unlike Gaza, however, Berlin found help when it was besieged after the Second World War. Western countries sent “raisin bombers” and supplied the trapped enclave with food, and they were not prevented from doing so by the Soviet Union – in stark contrast to the criminal starvation of Gaza’s civilian population by the settler-colonial regime in Tel Aviv.

In order to live up to their historical experience and responsibility, Berlin’s representatives should have sent “raisin bombers” to Gaza on 8 October 2023, instead of making themselves accomplices to genocide. They should not have wasted a single thought on becoming partners with the perpetrator capital.

Zionist influence

Berlin’s choice of Israel’s capital city underscores how deeply German politicians have, in recent years, allowed the Zionist lobby to shape the city’s political agenda.

In a manner incompatible with the rule of law, it now takes only the suspicion that an event or statement might be deemed antisemitic, according to the Zionist-driven IHRA definition, for the machinery of state repression to lurch into action.

From smear campaigns and police raids to the prosecution of activists and the criminalisation of humanitarian solidarity, every demonstration in support of Palestinian rights is met with brutal suppression by Berlin’s militarised riot police.

The Zionist lobby, as in other countries, does not seek to address the root causes of antisemitism. Instead, it weaponises the charge in order to pressure the German state into punishing anti-Zionist speech.

Following its electoral victory, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU), submitted a “minor interpellation” to the federal government titled “Political Neutrality of State-funded Organisations”.

It consisted of over 500 questions targeting civil society organisations critical of Israel’s genocide, with the aim of stripping them of funding and charitable status if they do not conform to what the Christian Democrats define as “political neutrality.”

Unsurprisingly, the Christian parties did not include a single Zionist lobby organisation in their interpellation, even though these groups are anything but “politically neutral”.

---

Follow Middle East Eye’s live coverage of the Israel-Palestine war

---

On the contrary, they operate as propaganda arms for the Zionist cause and Israel’s genocide against the Palestinian people in ways that are openly hostile to democratic principles and the defence of universalist ideals.

But perhaps more revealing is the fact that, two years ago, taxpayer funding for one of the Zionist lobby groups was almost doubled, reaching an annual total of 23 million euros ($25m).

Another openly Zionist organisation is also financially supported by the Ministry of the Interior – even though, once again, an organisation that openly represents and defends a racist ideology can hardly be considered “politically neutral.”

So what, exactly, is its public benefit?

State repression

On 19 February 2025, Berlin’s mayor Kai Wegner (CDU) deliberately pressured the president of Freie Universität (FU), Gunter M Ziegler, on behalf of the Zionist lobby to cancel an event with Francesca Albanese, the United Nations special rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

As Forschung & Lehre reported, it was not only the mayor who exerted pressure on university’s president.

Two Zionist groups – that are anything but “politically neutral” – were also involved. Ziegler ultimately bowed to this illegitimate encroachment on the university’s autonomy and cancelled the event.

On 4 April, the right-wing Die Welt newspaper launched another smear campaign against Albanese, echoing official Israeli propaganda in advance of a UN vote on her reappointment.

The paper quoted German politicians, including Jurgen Hardt of the CDU – a staunch Zionist advocate – who parroted Israeli military lies with shameless disregard for truth or decency.

As if that were not enough, Berlin crossed a new threshold on 1 April with a Trump-like move: announcing the deportation of three EU citizens and one US citizen simply for participating in pro-Gaza demonstrations.

These individuals had committed no crime. But in Berlin, freedom of expression is already too much to tolerate, especially when exercised to defend Palestinian rights.

This sends an unambiguous warning: anyone who demands justice for Palestinians is now a target of state repression.

If the courts fail to halt this descent into authoritarianism, German citizens could soon face prison for criticising Israeli war crimes, while non-citizens will simply be deported. All will be punished not for violence or incitement, but for defending the wrong people in the eyes of the political establishment.

Institutional assault

After German parliamentarians unanimously adopted the IHRA definition of antisemitism in 2017, the real consequences of this move for German democracy became clear in light of the ongoing Zionist genocide of the Palestinian people.

Two decisive resolutions passed in November 2024 and January 2025 dramatically changed German society and paved the way for even greater Zionist influence.

Germany’s support for Israel’s far-right alliance shatters its ‘denazified’ facade

Read More »

The first Zionist-led attack on German democracy came in November with the adoption of the resolution “Never again is now: Protecting, preserving and strengthening Jewish life in Germany”.

Its passage enables the German government to intervene in social life as a matter of principle – to defame anyone, Jew or non-Jew, as an antisemite and to punish those who raise their voices against the Zionist settler-colonial-apartheid regime and its war crimes.

The second attack followed on 28 January with the resolution “Antisemitism and hostility towards Israel in schools and universities”. It was passed hastily, largely unnoticed by the public, after the end of the government and during the election campaign.

The resolution amounts to a brazen assault on the autonomy of universities and the freedom of research and teaching. Under the guise of concern over a purported rise in antisemitism at schools and universities, the charge is being weaponised to silence critical academics and students.

At a federal press conference following its adoption, German professors expressed outrage that the resolution had been drafted without the usual consultation of antisemitism experts or academic bodies.

They also criticised the fact that the drafters had ignored the objections of the German Rectors’ Conference (HRK), which had already rejected a similar proposal in autumn 2024 over legal concerns. According to one professor, it was not even clear who had authored the resolution.

The resolution is a brazen assault on academic freedom, weaponising antisemitism to silence critical voices in schools and universities

Presumably, however, the driving force is not difficult to identify. Given the resolution’s explicitly Zionist agenda – threatening students and academics who take a stand against the regime and its genocide – one need only look to current and former parliamentarians who are behind the resolution.

Volker Beck, a former Green MP, is president of the German-Israeli Society. Mathias Stein, a former MP from the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) and a member of the parliamentary group behind the resolution, is one of its vice presidents.

Other current and former Bundestag members, including Marcus Faber (FDP), Lisa Badum (Greens) and Jurgen Hardt (CDU/CSU), also serve as vice presidents of the German-Israeli Society.

It is hardly surprising that academic expertise and historical accuracy were of no interest when this resolution was drafted. German parliamentarians have proven either unable or unwilling to recognise its true intent.

Rather than defending democratic rights or resisting Zionist encroachment, they have become willing accomplices to its sweeping “land grab” – one that dismantles Germany’s institutions and democracy itself.

New fascism

Once hailed as “poor but sexy,” Berlin attracted young people from around the world, along with the global cultural elite and influential scientists. That era is over.

For Germany’s political class, supporting Israel’s genocide is naked self-interest

Jurgen Mackert

Read More »

Today, Berlin has turned to the democracy-destroying weaponisation of antisemitism, laying an axe to freedom of opinion, thought, research and teaching.

The right to criticise Israel for what it is – a genocidal, white supremacist settler colony carrying out ethnic cleansing in the West Bank, threatening Palestinians with Israeli citizenship, and endangering civilian populations across the region – is under active assault.

Through its partnership with Tel Aviv, Berlin is becoming a safe haven for Zionist supremacists and racists, for Israeli soldiers who have committed war crimes in Gaza, and for wanted officials from the Israeli government – all under the pretext of protecting Jewish life.

Instead of upholding international law or defending civil liberties, Berlin’s so-called “democratic centre” is paving the way for an emerging new fascism.

Welcome to Berlin, the capital of Zionist repression.

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Eye.

Jurgen Mackert is Professor of Sociology at the University of Potsdam, Germany. He was a temporary Professor for the Structure of modern societies at the University of Erfurt, Germany and a visiting professor for Political Sociology at Humboldt University Berlin. His latest books include On Social Closure. Theorizing Exclusion, Exploitation, and Elimination (Oxford University Press 2024). Siedlerkolonialismus. Grundlagentexte und aktuelle Analysen (edited with Ilan Pappe; Nomos 2024).