German Chancellor Olaf Scholz鈥檚 centre-left party faced controversy Friday after one of its lawmakers, a vice president of parliament, shared an online post denounced as anti-Israeli.
Aydan Ozoguz shared a post from the US-based group Jewish Voice for Peace that showed an image of a building on fire with the message 鈥楾his is Zionism鈥�.
The Israeli ambassador to Germany, Ron Prosor, said the post 鈥榠ndirectly questions Israel鈥檚 right to exist鈥� and accused Ozoguz of 鈥榩ouring oil on the fire鈥�.
The Social Democratic Party lawmaker, one of five vice presidents of the German Bundestag, later deleted her message and apologised.
鈥業 realised that the shared post hurt the feelings of fellow citizens who stand up for peaceful coexistence,鈥� she wrote. 鈥楾hat was not my intention and I deeply regret that.鈥�
Volker Beck, chairman of the German-Israeli Society, said Ozoguz had 鈥榗rossed a red line鈥�.
The parliamentary head of the conservative CDU/CSU parliamentary group, Thorsten Frei, said it was 鈥榦utraged and disappointed鈥�.
鈥榃e do not want to be represented by such a vice president,鈥� Frei said. 鈥楽he does not speak for us.鈥�
The chamber鈥檚 president, Baerbel Bas, also from the Social Democrats, said 鈥榠t is not acceptable to spread messages with clearly anti-Zionist content鈥�.
Postwar Germany has been at pains to atone for the Holocaust and long pledged steadfast support for Israel, but criticism has grown amid Israel鈥檚 year-long Gaza war against Hamas, as have anti-Semitic hate speech and attacks.