Germany updates: Migrants have 'imported' antisemitism, says Merz

• Friedrich Merz ended his trip to Washington by speaking to US media where he made comments about rising incidents of antisemitism in Germany
• Lufthansa is set to restart flights to Tel Aviv later this month

Read about developments and news from Germany on Friday, June 6, 2025:

06/06/2025June 6, 2025

Lufthansa to restart Tel Aviv flights

Lufthansa said Friday it would restart flights to and from Tel Aviv on June 23.

The German airline group said the resumption would affect Lufthansa, Austrian, SWISS, Brussels Airlines, Eurowings, ITA and Lufthansa Cargo but that "for operational reasons" the individual airlines would resume services "gradually."

"The decision is based on an extensive security analysis and in coordination with the relevant authorities," Lufthansa said in a statement.

The Lufthansa group suspended its flights to Tel Aviv in the wake of a May 4 rocket attack launched by Yemen's Houthi rebel group, an Iran-backed Shiite Muslim militia that has fought a civil war in Yemen since 2014.

The missile landed near a car park at Ben Gurion International Airport, wounding six people.

06/06/2025June 6, 2025

WATCH: German Chancellor Merz on his meeting with Donald Trump

Germany will remain dependent on the United States, Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Friday.

"Whether we like it or not, we will remain dependent on the United States, on America, for a long time to come," Merz said.

Merz made the comments just hours after returning from his inaugural visit to Washington, where he met with US President Donald Trump.

06/06/2025June 6, 2025

Merz: 'We have imported antisemitism with big numbers of migrants'

Chancellor Friedrich Merz has told US media that migration is a factor behind the rise in antisemitism in Germany.

In an interview with Fox News, Merz was asked what he was doing to combat antisemitism in Germany and he said: "This is, especially for Germany, a terrible challenge that we are faced with such an amount of cases of antisemitism in Germany."

"We are doing everything we can to bring these numbers down," Merz continued. "We are prosecuting those who are against the law. And frankly, we have a sort of imported antisemitism with the big numbers of migrants we have within the last 10 years, and we have to tackle this and we have to resolve this problem."

"I would like to make it very clear, that the German government, and the vast majority of the German parliament, is strictly against antisemitism and against these people and we are doing everything we can to bring these numbers down."

Merz's comments come on the back of data which earlier this week showed the rising numbers in antisemitic incidents in Germany.

In 2024, 8,627 antisemitic incidents occurred — 77% more than in 2023.

The data published by the Federal Association of Departments for Research and Information on Antisemitism (RIAS) showed that of the cases documented, 5,857 were classified as "antisemitism related to Israel."

A total of 544 cases were attributed to right-wing extremist views.

06/06/2025June 6, 2025

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German Chancellor Friedrich Merz is rounding off his trip to Washington and has been speaking to US media.

Elsewhere, Lufthansa said Friday it would restart flights to and from Tel Aviv on June 23, having halted them at the beginning of May amid the ongoing regional conflict.