Israeli ambassador to Germany condemns Bezalel Smotrich’s tirade against chancellor

Ron Prosor says verbal attack on Friedrich Merz referencing Nazi regime ‘erodes the memory of the Holocaust’

Israel’s envoy to Germany has criticised a far-right Israeli cabinet member who made historically charged accusations against the German chancellor, Friedrich Merz, saying the attack “[eroded] the memory of the Holocaust”.

In a rare rebuke of a top Israeli official by an active ambassador, Ron Prosor said he wished to “unequivocally condemn” Bezalel Smotrich’s tirade against Merz, in which he made reference to the Nazi regime and said: “You will not force us into ghettos again.”