'Megaphone diplomacy', an increasingly common practice in Germany
Who. The former Ukrainian ambassador in Berlin and the representatives of the Israeli diplomatic delegation have not hesitated to air their criticism against leaders or journalists of the Republic in a very undiplomatic tone.. That. A comment by a philosopher about supposed customs linked to the Sabbat has triggered an intense campaign because it is considered to contribute to fomenting “hatred of Jews.”
There was a time when diplomacy was an art. Disagreements were addressed discreetly in classrooms and offices. The cigar and the glass could be missing, but never the forms. Diplomacy is now a megaphone. It is becoming so mundane and scandalous that there are governments that prefer to bow their heads out of shame rather than call for consultations the ambassadors who make a joke out of pleasure.
Germany knows well what megaphone diplomacy is. He suffered it with the former Ukrainian ambassador, Andrij Melnyk. For two years, until his return to kyiv to occupy the position of deputy foreign minister that he had supposedly earned, Melnyk represented the interests of his country by attacking the foreign. He left no puppet with a head. He accused the head of state, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, of thinking like Vladimir Putin. And at a concert organized by Steinmeier in memory of the victims of the Ukrainian war, he left him hanging because there were no Ukrainian musicians in the orchestra and the program was by enemy composers.. Logically, always looking for the maximum echo on social networks.
The German authorities silently swallowed one toad after another. He let the guest Melnyk impose the rules of the game and its narrative. It was only brought to attention once, as far as we know, but it was not through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but in a conversation with the leaders of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), that of Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
Israel has it easier. Germany's past acts as a gag in itself and there are no cracks in the Executive. The media are something else, but it is difficult to put doors into the field when megaphone diplomacy becomes inquisitive.
The latest podcast by journalist Markus Lanz and philosopher Richard David Precht, both well-known in this country, is preceded by a statement from the latter. He claims that in the previous podcast “wording was used that caused offense and drew criticism, including from the Israeli embassy. And of course we don't want that and we are very sorry.”. Above all, “because the statement in question did not remotely have the intention attributed to it.”
In that episode of Lanz & Precht they talked about Israel and the Hamas attack, but also about Judaism. At one point in the conversation, the philosopher mentioned that Jews are prohibited from working on Saturdays, “except for some things like the diamond trade and some financial transactions.”
Criticism of Precht did not wait. The Israeli embassy in Berlin wrote in X: “Dear Richard David Precht, if you have no idea about Judaism, it is better to say nothing about it than to rehash old anti-Semitic conspiracy theories.”
The German-Israeli Society and the board of the Orthodox Rabbinical Conference of Germany joined the attack. They spoke of a “slap in the face of the Jewish community in Germany” and stressed that, in view of Precht's statements, “we should not be surprised by the anti-Semitism and reservations, even the hatred towards the Jews who live here.”. The dust raised by the embassy was such that public television ZDF, where Lanz works and on whose platform the podcast is published, was forced to eliminate the “diamonds” passage and apologize.. The matter is too serious to make jokes, but just in case someone send a warning to Lepe.