Frankfurt Mayor Uwe Becker said during a speech at the German-Israel Congress on 25 November that 'Jerusalem is the capital of Israel', Rogel Rachman, an Israeli diplomat at the Berlin embassy reported on his Twitter page. According to the Jerusalem Post, Becker also urged Berlin to freeze ties with Iran until the latter starts admitting Israel's right to exist.
Uwe Becker mayor of Frankfurt in the israel Congress “ Jerusalem is the capital of israel 🇮🇱”#DILK18 pic.twitter.com/RHUzddWYQH
— Rogel Rachman (@RogelRachman) November 25, 2018
Becker is known to be a strong supporter of Israel and holds membership in the German-Israeli Society Frankfurt and is president of the association Friends of the University of Tel Aviv in Germany. He claims that Frankfurt is currently 'the most Israel-friendly city outside of Israel'.
The statements by the Frankfurt mayor, who is a member of the governing Christian Democratic Union (CDU), go against the policies of German Chancellor and leader of the CDU Angela Merkel. Following Washington's decision to move its embassy to Jerusalem, Merkel has been arguing across the EU against following the US' example.
Most countries' embassies are located in Tel Aviv as they do not recognize Israel's claim to Jerusalem as its capital. Most of the international community stands for the so-called 'two-state solution' for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which stipulates that both Palestinian and Israeli states should exist alongside within internationally recognized borders.
