In a strongly worded statement on Sunday Israeli President Reuven Rivlin referred to Germany's warning to Jews on the dangers of wearing the traditional kippah cap as a “capitulation to anti-Semitism” and glaring proof that Jews were unsafe there, reported AFP.
Rivlin admitted to being “shocked” by the German government's commissioner on anti-Semitism, Felix Klein’s interview, published Saturday, in which he said he “cannot advise Jews to wear the kippah everywhere all the time in Germany,” due to the upsurge in anti-Semitic and anti-Jewish attacks there.
“Fears about the security of German Jews are a capitulation to anti-Semitism and an admittance that, again, Jews are not safe on German soil,” he said.
READ MORE: Jewish Activists Urge Berlin to Combat Anti-Semitism Amid Hate Crime Spike
“We will never submit, will never lower our gaze and will never react to anti-Semitism with defeatism — and expect and demand our allies act in the same way,” Rivlin added.
Anti-Semitic crimes rose by 20 per cent in Germany last year, according to interior ministry data.
In 2018, at least 1,083 anti-Semitic incidents took place in the country, which is 14 per cent more than the previous year, according to reports.
