Israeli ambassador to Germany ejected from Berlin cafe by Israeli owner

Israel's ambassador to Germany, Ron Prosor, was ejected from a Berlin cafe by an Israeli expatriate in protest against Israel's promotion of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance's (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism.

The definition, which has been endorsed by the German government, has been criticised for equating criticism of Israel with antisemitism.

Avi Berg, the owner of the cafe, justified the ejection saying that "since he represents Israel, and since he implements an invalid and manipulative policy, which claims that any criticism of Israel is antisemitism – a policy that claims that I and my peers are antisemitic – he is not welcome in my cafe."

He later told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that Prosor's involvement in pressuring Germany’s parliament to label any criticism of Israel as antisemitic was "very damaging against the fight against genuine antisemitism."

Berg said that the ambassador and his bodyguards left immediately.

To understand the roots of Germany’s anti-Palestinian practices, The New Arab spent time in Berlin interviewing Palestinian community members affected by censorship of pro-Palestinian advocacy.

Their stories are highlighted in our new short doc, Germany's Palestine Problem 👇 pic.twitter.com/JMegk0tntG

— The New Arab (@The_NewArab) July 14, 2023

The Israeli foreign ministry has since stated that the incident was not significant, adding that Prosor was unaware of Berg’s political leanings.

Germany has been accused by pro-Palestine activists of stifling any criticism of Israel as antisemitic. In 2019, the Bundestag approved a resolution that denounced the Boycott, Divest and Sanctions (BDS) movement as having antisemitic methods.

The BDS movement is a Palestinian-led campaign that uses boycotts to push Israel to end its illegal occupation of Palestinian territory such as the West Bank, in addition to Syria's Golan Heights.