The German state of Saxony-Anhalt, governed by conservatives (CDU), social democrats (SPD) and liberals (FPD), has added with immediate effect a requirement to those already established for the granting of the German nationality: recognize Israel’s right to exist.
This has been stipulated by the Magdeburg Ministry of the Interior in a decree addressed to the administrative districts and independent cities of the Land. The Minister of the Interior, Tamara Zieschang, thus collects a suggestion formulated by the CDU presidentFriedrich Merz, after the Hamas attacks in Israel last October, and for which he had been criticized.
Among those who criticized him was the Federal Ministry of the Interiorled by the SPD, and the SPD parliamentary group in the Bundestagbecause they consider that the idea It is not necessary given the planned reform of the citizenship law. This reform considers that acts motivated by anti-Semitism, racism, xenophobia or other misanthropic behavior are incompatible with the guarantee of human dignity of the Basic Law and violate the free democratic basic order. “Therefore, such acts preclude naturalization,” the Social Democrats argued.
In Saxony-Anhalt, however, they have decided to act. The authorities will now also have to comply with the special decree issued by the State Ministry of the Interior and Sports on November 29, 2023. Persons seeking German nationality must acknowledge in writing the special German responsibility towards the State of Israel and Israel’s right to exist. The decree recommends that local authorities in Saxony-Anhalt require the following declaration from applicants:
“I expressly recognize the special German responsibility for the State of Israel and the right of Israel to exist and condemn any anti-Semitic attempts. I do not pursue and have not pursued efforts directed against the right of the State of Israel to exist.”