The German parliament has advanced a bill that would make denial of Israel’s right to exist a criminal offence punishable by up to five years in prison.
The legislation received backing from Germany’s upper house of parliament, the Bundesrat. It will now travel to the lower house, the Bundestag.
Under the proposal, anyone who publicly or at a gathering denies the right of the State of Israel to exist, or calls for its elimination, would face punishment. In legal terms, this means Germany is expanding Section 130 StGB (its criminal code) beyond Holocaust denial to include existential denial of Israel.
According to the bill’s justification, existing criminal provisions (such as incitement of hatred, approval of criminal acts, or the use of symbols of terrorist organizations) currently apply only in individual cases and are insufficient.
