Shimon Stein served as Israel's ambassador to Germany from 2001 to 2007. In what was a difficult time for Israel, which included the Second Intifada and the Second Lebanon War, he served the state with dedication and devotion, confronted its many critics inside Germany and contributed to the improvement in ties between the two countries, in particular thanks to the personal relationship he nurtured with Angela Merkel at a point in time when no one could have predicted she would go on to become Germany's leader.
Stein did not, to put it mildly, like his predecessor's torpedoing of Israel's public relations work through interviews, lectures and countless articles in the newspapers. There is no longer anti-Semitism in Germany, Ambassador Avi Primor would claim, just legitimate Israel criticism. We now understand just how disconnected this assessment was from reality.
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Following his most turn as ambassador, a Foreign Ministry role that would suit Stein's talents was not found, and so he turned to the business sector. But Stein very quickly to take on the behavior of his predecessor: giving interviews and lectures and writing articles in which he undermined Israel's official efforts to explain its positions. To Stein's relief, Israel has barely bothered in recent years to send a German-speaking ambassador to Germany, so Israel was not adequately getting its official positions across in the local media anyway.
Stein is a friend of Moshe Zimmerman, the Israeli academic whose controversial positions have already served as grounds for legal proceedings, and together, they publish defamatory editorials in German newspapers.
Their most recent piece focused on the controversy around the Berlin Jewish Museum and the resignation of its manager following his support for the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement. Who in Germany is authorized to decide what Judaism and anti-Semitism are, and what anti-Semitism in the context of Israel is, the two ask in their attack on the Israeli government and Jewish community leaders in Germany.
"The official Israeli positions is: We determine what anti-Semitism is and what a Jew is. Jews who oppose the boycott over the occupation and the settlements are no longer Jews. We recognize the phenomenon of interfering in cultural institutions over political interests from Israel. We have already experienced in Israel how democracy becomes ochlocracy, or mob rule, and limits freedom of expression. Now it is happening in Germany."
Both of the writers wonder whether it is possible to define BDS as an anti-Semitic movement, and retroactively blame the Israeli government for imposing political censorship in Germany.
One of the most common arguments heard from anti-Semites in Germany on both the Right and the Left is that their country is controlled by Jews and "the Tel Aviv government." Look who is providing justification for this conspiracy theory.
Stein was not the only one to enlist in the effort against the Bundestag's historic and brave decision to define BDS as an anti-Semitic movement. A plethora of left-wing organizations and activists – from the New Israel Fund and B'Tselem to staunch BDS supporters in Israel and Jewish communities around the world – have embarked on an all-out war in order to convince the German public and its elected officials that the move amounts to "political censorship" and "severe damage to freedom of speech."
From my many years of experience with Germany, I will allow myself to conclude that this organized attack, which receives disproportionate coverage in the local media, in fact serves the decision-makers in Germany. There is concern the decision-makers there will ultimately give in to "public" and media pressure and rescind the Bundestag's decision, officially or in practice, out of concern for "freedom of expression in Germany." After all, Germany and the left-wing organizations have a long partnership of interests, as financiers and the recipients of those funds.
It's a shame that Israel is neglecting Germany, thereby allowing the Left to become the sole interlocutor and a channel for the promotion of German intervention in Israel's internal affairs. It is an even greater pity that Foreign Ministry veterans are cooperating with the phenomenon. There are many diplomats in the Foreign Ministry who do an amazing job in the service of the country but a handful are sabotaging its work and its image. Perhaps it would be wise for ministry workers to think about implementing binding measures that will prevent former ambassadors and diplomats from doing damage to the State of Israel as soon as they retire from their role.
