German UN ambassador makes list of worst antisemitic incidents
EXCLUSIVE: Christoph Heusgen compared Israel to terrorist entity Hamas.
By BENJAMIN WEINTHALAssociate Dean Rabbi Abraham Cooper is pictured in his office at the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles, California December 10, 2015(photo credit: MARIO ANZUONI/REUTERS)
ATHENS – The prominent human rights organization Simon Wiesenthal Center ranked the German UN ambassador’s comparison between Israel and the terrorist organization Hamas as number seven on its top ten list of worst outbreaks of antisemitism and anti-Israel incidents for 2019, The Jerusalem Post can exclusively report.The Wiesenthal Center said that “Germany is in the midst of a two-year stint on the UN Security Council. Its UN ambassador, Christoph Heusgen, created an uproar by the number of anti-Israel votes he has cast and by his equating 130 rockets fired by terrorist Hamas at Israeli civilians in one week in March with the Jewish state’s demolition of terrorists’ homes.”Heusgen declared: “We believe that international law is the best way to protect civilians and allow them to live in peace and security and without fear of Israeli bulldozers or Hamas rockets.”The Wiesenthal Center noted in its justification that Bild, the largest circulation paper in Germany, “accused Heusgen in an editorial of ‘pure malice’ against the Jewish state."The Center continued that “Heusgen cast 16 anti-Israel votes at the UN in 2018, abstaining once. In 2019, he voted for nine anti-Israel resolutions, including one labeling Jerusalem’s holiest sites as ‘Palestinian Occupied territory,’ while abstaining 3 times and opposing only one anti-Israel resolution.”The entry concluded with stating that “Chancellor Angela Merkel famously declared in a 2008 speech in Israel’s Knesset: ‘The security of Israel is never negotiable for me as German Chancellor.’ Seems Heusgen never got the memo.”After the Wiesenthal Center announced in November that comments made by Heusgen are a contender for its top ten list, a spokesperson for Germany’s foreign ministry told the Post that “We reject the antisemitism accusation.”Heusgen’s inclusion on the list makes him the first German diplomat to appear in the rankings.Last month, the Wiesenthal Center’s Rabbi Abraham Cooper told the Post that the organization is considering including an act by Heusgen on its annual list of the worst outbreaks of antisemitism and anti-Israel incidents.“We are looking at a few dozen candidates that includes serious incidents on both sides of the Atlantic. Among them include the German Ambassador to the UN for equating Hamas and Israeli actions,” said Cooper at the time, referring to Christoph Heusgen. “His outrageous and dangerous statement at the United Nations Security Council in March” puts him in contention to be “on the top 10 list of antisemitic and anti-Israel incidents” for 2019.
The US and the EU classify the Jihadi organization Hamas a terrorist entity.Heusgen, who has garnered an anti-Israel reputation over the last decade, was Merkel’s former chief foreign policy adviser.A Wikileaks cable revealed in 2010 that Heusgen, who was Merkel’s foreign policy adviser at the time, urged the US to water down its opposition to the UN’s anti-Israel “Goldstone Report” in order to force Israel to freeze settlement construction.The Post has learned from Israeli diplomats over the years that there is deep dislike of Heusgen due to his anti-Israel activities that allegedly endanger the security of Israel.The German magazine Der Spiegel reported in 2017 that Heusgen used nepotism to secure a job for his wife at the UN.
