A German state has decreed that migrants seeking to become citizens must formally acknowledge the state of Israel’s right to exist as the country attempts to deal with rising antisemitism.
The application process for citizenship naturalisation in the state of Saxony-Anhalt will now require that foreigners commit in writing “that they recognise Israel’s right to exist and condemn any efforts directed against the existence of the State of Israel.” Those who refuse to do so will not have their applications rejected and a note of their refusal will be logged in their immigration file.
The move was announced this week by the state’s interior minister, Tamara Zieschang, who argued that the policy should be adopted nationwide, German broadcaster Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk reported.
In addition to a formal commitment to Israel’s right to exist, migrants seeking to become citizens in Saxony-Anhalt will also face a process to determine whether or not they hold antisemitic beliefs, which Zieschang argued would violate the German constitution’s requirement to a commitment to a “free, democratic basic order.”
Zieschang, of the centrist Christian Democratic Union…
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