German journalist withdraws criticism of Israel as “Corona Dictatorship”

The German Spiegel magazine journalist Christoph Sydow walked back his description of Israel’s government under Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu as the first “Corona Dictatorship,” after he faced days of intense criticism that he spread antisemitism on the website of the news outlet.

Sydow tweeted that “If I wrote the text again today, I would not use the word ‘dictatorship’ again. I stick to the assessment that the damage that has been done to the democratic system and that may be further inflicted is immense and will have ramifications for the country.”

The German journalist Stefan Frank – who has an expertise in contemporary German antisemitism – wrote, according to observers, a devastating criticism on the website of the Austrian think tank Mena-Watch, covering the alleged falsehoods and antisemitism contained in Sydow’s article. He used the famous definition from former Israeli minister Natan Sharansky of modern antisemitism to argue that Sydow’s article met the criteria.

Sharansky’s definition states that when double standards, demonisation or delegitimisation (the so-called”three Ds” or the “3D test”) are applied to Israel, criticism of the Jewish state is an expression of antisemitism.

Sydow argued that Netanyahu’s administration was apparently creating the first “Corona Dictatorship” because the government was tracking Israelis infected with the virus who could be in contact with other Israelis. Protests on social media from Israelis and Germans prompted a correction.

Spiegel changed the headline to: “Demonstrations with more than ten participants are prohibited due to the corona crisis.”

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