Anti-Israel party complain Merkel aided in Soleimani killing dismissed
The Left Party MPs filed their criminal complaint against Merkel in late February.
By BENJAMIN WEINTHALGerman Chancellor Angela Merkel holds a joint news conference with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte (not pictured) at the Chancellery in Berlin, Germany, October 2, 2019(photo credit: MICHELE TANTUSSI/REUTERS)
BERLIN - The office of Germany’s federal prosecutor dismissed a criminal complaint filed by the Left party against Chancellor Angela Merkel for allegedly aiding the US government in its targeting killing of the Iranian general Qasem Soleimani.The German paper Die Welt reported on Saturday about the dismissal, noting that eight Left party members of parliament claimed the German government “aided in the murder” of Soleimani by failing to take action to stop the US drone attack that eliminated Soleimani in January.The US and the EU both designated Soleimani a foreign terrorist, who, according to the US government, played a key role in the murders of over 600 American service personnel in the Middle East. Soleimani has also played a role in terrorism operations that let to the murder of Israelis and planned attacks against European Jews, pro-Israel advocates and Israelis.The Left Party MPs filed their criminal complaint against Merkel in late February. The prosecutor’s office said there were no indication points to start an investigation against the Merkel administration.According to Die Welt, the Left party claimed that the US used its air force base in Ramstein, Germany as a point for data streams to coordinate its drone attacks.The Left party opposes a ban of the entire Lebanese organization Hezbollah in Germany. The US, the United Kingdom, Canada, Israel, the Netherlands, the Arab League and a number of Latin American countries have classified Hezbollah’s movement a foreign terrorist entity.Last year, the Left party rejected a resolution deeming the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) campaign targeting Israel as antisemitism. The mainstream Bundestag parties supported the anti-BDS resolution.The Left party has issued many statements and resolutions against the Jewish state over the years.It recently condemned Israel in a resolution for the “violent approach of the Israeli government and the Israeli military against the majority of peaceful mass protests of the Palestinians in Gaza in the course of the Great March of Return, which started on March 30.”The Left party MP Christina Buchholz reportedly supports Palestinian terrorism against Israel as a legitimate form of “resistance.” She is a zealous campaigner for the Lebanese terrorist organization Hezbollah and Hamas.Claudia Haydt, a Left party politician, was included by the Wiesenthal Center in its list of worst outbreaks of antisemitsim and anti-Israelism in 2014. She joined her fellow Left party politicians Annette Groth, Heike Hänsel and Inge Höger on the list for support of BDS activity and a violent outbreak of anti-Israelism in the Bundestag.
