Merz on Antisemitism: Israel Haters Face ‘Bitter Enemies’

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz delivered a forceful message against antisemitism and hatred of Israel on Saturday, telling delegates at the Christian Social Union party convention in Munich that extremists from either side of the political spectrum would face determined opposition.

“Antisemites and enemies of Israel, whether they come from the right or from the left, will always find bitter opponents in us,” Merz said. The remarks came during a broader speech on political extremism, Germany’s security and the future of the country’s governing center-right alliance. His address received several minutes of applause from CSU delegates.

Psalm 34:14 commands, “Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it.” In Germany, where hatred of Jews once became state policy with catastrophic consequences, opposing antisemitism is not simply another domestic political issue. It carries a historical obligation that also reaches modern hostility toward the Jewish state.

Merz On Antisemitism From Right and Left

Merz used the speech to reject cooperation with Germany’s right-wing Alternative for Germany while also criticizing the Left Party over accusations of antisemitism and hostility toward Israel. The Left Party denies that antisemitism is systemic within its ranks. Merz argued that Germany’s democratic parties must draw firm boundaries against extremism regardless of where it originates.

His wording reflects a problem documented well beyond party politics. Germany’s Federal Association of Departments for Research and Information on Antisemitism recorded 8,725 antisemitic incidents in 2025, an average of almost 24 every day. The organization classified 68% of those incidents as Israel-related antisemitism, while also recording a record number associated with right-wing extremism and an increase in incidents linked to left-wing anti-imperialist ideology.

Merz on antisemitism has repeatedly emphasized Germany’s responsibility to protect Jewish life and defend Israel’s right to exist, particularly in the aftermath of October 7. On the third anniversary of the October 7 Hamas terrorist attack, he declared that Israel’s security remains part of Germany’s national identity and promised continued action against antisemitism.

The human cost behind that commitment was recently revisited in “Israeli Civilian Casualties: Three Years After October 7,” which looked back at civilians murdered across Israel during the Hamas attack, hostage crisis and wider war. Merz’s latest remarks address another consequence of October 7: the surge in antisemitic hostility that Jewish communities have experienced far beyond Israel itself.

Germany’s Israel Commitment Carries Weight

Merz’s statement is especially notable because he did not limit the problem to one ideological camp. Antisemitic conspiracy theories have long existed on the far right, while the years since October 7 have also brought intense debate over when anti-Israel activism crosses into antisemitism.

The distinction remains important. Merz himself has said that criticism of Israeli government policy is legitimate in a democracy. At the same time, he has warned that political criticism cannot serve as a cover for denying Israel’s right to exist or targeting Jewish people because of actions taken by Israel.

That principle matters to Israel because efforts to delegitimize the Jewish state increasingly overlap with the security concerns faced by Jewish communities abroad. It also matters in the United States, where debates over antisemitism, Israel and political extremism have intensified since October 7. Germany’s historical experience gives its leaders a particular responsibility, but the challenge itself is shared across Western democracies.

Memory, Covenant and the Defense of Jewish Life

Israel’s covenantal mission before God carries the responsibility to preserve Jewish life, sovereignty and continuity in the ancestral homeland. The existence of a Jewish state means Jews no longer depend entirely on foreign governments to defend them, but that does not lessen the importance of allies confronting antisemitism within their own societies.

America’s covenantal tradition developed through a different history, centered on religious liberty, constitutional government and the protection of citizens against persecution. Standing against antisemitism therefore serves both a moral principle and a democratic one: Jews must be able to live openly and safely without being held responsible for the existence or policies of Israel.

Germany carries an additional historical burden that neither Israel nor America shares. Merz’s declaration recognizes that responsibility while making the standard broader: antisemitism should not become acceptable because it comes wrapped in the language of either the right or the left.

For Jewish communities in Germany and for Israel itself, the test will be whether those words continue to translate into protection, enforcement and political courage when antisemitism becomes uncomfortable to confront.

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