Likud MK Amichai Chikli, the CEO of Im Tirtzu, and Israelis who have lost family members to Palestinian terrorism accused the German government and its publicly funded NGO German-Israel Friendship Association (DIG) of waging an anti-Israel boycott campaign targeting Zionist organizations.
MK Amichai Chikli claimed that “The incessant involvement of the German government and agents on its behalf in internal political issues in Israel through various funds and even more so under the guise of ‘pro-Israel’ organizations such as the DIG which boycotts conservative Zionist organizations in Israel such as Im Tirtzu and its employees, crosses every possible line.”
In an audio recording of a conversation that took place during the summer of 2022 in which Volker Beck, the Green Party politician and president of DIG, argues that the DIG banned the Yonatan Shay, who is a fluent German speaker, from delivering talks at their events in Germany. Shay is the Head of the Im Titrtzu Hasbara (Israel Advocacy) Department.
Beck was heard saying in the recording: “We wanted to explain again why we decided not to grant the application…And I don’t want to hide it, there was also a little apprehension towards the Foreign Office when we let Yonas Shay train us there.”
Beck noted that “We are just under observation by the foreign office.”
The German foreign ministry funds the DIG. Israel National Newsexclusively reported last year that internal email dialogue shows how German officials from the foreign ministry lash out at Im Tirtzu.
Im Tirtzu, which was founded in 2006, is a grassroots organization with 6,000 volunteers and chapters on 20 college campuses.
According to its website, Im Tirtzu works to “strengthen the values of Zionism in Israel as a Jewish and democratic state” and “also works closely with a variety of groups within Israeli society, including bereaved families of terrorism, wounded IDF veterans, and Israeli minorities who wish to integrate into Israeli society.”
Beck claimed on the audio recording that Im Tirtzu “are pretty hot-tempered and I would say not responsible.”
Beck accused Im Tirtzu on the audio of sending a “Price Tag” message to the “Israeli left,” stating Im Tirtzu left a sign for Israelis leftists with the motto “Watch out, we were there.” Beck provided no evidence for his claim.
Beck also criticized Im Tirtzu on the audio for seeking to hold a Jerusalem flag day event to celebrate Israeli patriotism.
Beck further said on the audio Shay “has radicalized a bit over the last few years…We spend money from the Foreign Office… and when things like this are involved, it can get really tricky for us.”
A spokesperson for the German foreign ministry wrote: “The German-Israel Association has been institutionally funded by the Federal Foreign Office since 2012. Projects that go beyond this are applied for and approved on a case-by-case basis. However, the Federal Foreign Office has not received any application for funding for the lecture tour mentioned. Of course, the Federal Foreign Office does not put any pressure on its partners and does not maintain any lists like the ones you mentioned.”
The alleged list is to exclude Israeli organizations like Im Tirtzu from speaking at DIG events.
Beck refused to answer multiple queries regarding the recording.
The popular German Jewish monthly magazine, Jewish Review, first reported in September on the Beck audio recording. The DIG told the Jewish Review that the matter involving Shay was about “internal decisions about funding.”
MK Amichai Chikli added in response to the quotes: “Phony and fake friends of Israel in Germany such as Volker Beck from DIG exclude Israeli conservative right-wing speakers while legitimizing hostile anti-Zionist entities like the NIF [New Israel Fund], allocating resources to encourage voting for certain parties and above all dirtying the face of the State of Israel through a chain of propaganda ‘human rights organizations.’’’
“The German establishment crossed every line.” he added, “No self-respecting sovereign country in the world allows such blatant subversion to go unchallenged. I appeal to every member of the German government and to the real friends of Israel in Germany who reads these things: Stop this despicable phenomenon instead of talking rubbish and bullying Zionist-right wing Israeli movements and respect the right of the Jewish people to exist in their homeland. The German people should know what happened to them (the Jewish people) last time when they were uprooted from their historical homeland.”
Matan Peleg, CEO of the Im Tirtzu Movement, told Israel National News that “ It turns out that the German-Israel Friendship Association is no longer so friendly to Israel. It is a scandal when their leader admits that the German Foreign Ministry, known for its anti-Zionist policy, is pulling the strings behind the association’s activities and blackmailing it into acting against the Zionist majority in Israel and working to silence them. The subversion of the German government is insatiable. In recent years, Germany has financed dozens of Israeli radical left organizations that work to discredit IDF soldiers and to encourage international pressure against them in a sum exceeding NIS 154 million, they now work to blackmail the only official pro-Israel association in Germany.”
