14 No. 73 JUSTICE speaking jihadist scene, too, there have been such calls for violence. An attack in Germany motivated by the conflict in the Middle East was committed in Solingen in August, 2024, when a Syrian national indiscriminately stabbed several people at a town festival, killing three persons and injuring eight others. I have warned the German public for quite some time now that jihadist Islamism has a lot of staying power; like a hydra, as one head is cut off, another one grows; and the narrative of jihadist Islamism is very resilient with a high level of frustration tolerance. After clear setbacks, Islamist extremists show strategic patience as they work towards creating new jihad theatres, or they wait for trigger events such as the current crisis in the Middle East to revitalize their propaganda and to mobilize their followers. According to our assessment, since October 7, for Israeli and Jewish targets too, the overall threat in Germany has increased. Solidarity through Deeds – Measures Taken by BfV I have talked about the necessity for solidarity, which needs to show itself through deeds. And thus, I do not just want to describe the threat situation from the German perspective, but I would also like to outline our countermeasures. For this purpose, I would like to quote the former Israeli ambassador to the UN and former Israeli president, Chaim Herzog, who — already nearly 50 years ago, on November 10, 1975 — emphasized before the United Nations General Assembly that “hatred and ignorance are the two evils which menace society in general and a society of nations in particular.” In the digital age, which has been shaken by multiple crises, these words have lost none of their validity. Quite the contrary. Thus, in line with its statutory mission, our intelligence service does not just investigate hatred and disinformation but also resolutely fights extremism and antisemitism in all its fields of work, both in the real world and in cyberspace. As we do so, we inform the public with maximum transparency. We publish situation reports on antisemitism, in which we name its overt and covert forms, its originators, and the ways in which it is spread. In rightwing extremism, groups have formed time and again that the security agencies have been able to smash in their early stages. However, in this fight, we do not make the mistake of only looking at acts of violence. We consistently also focus on actors in the grey areas — such as those belonging to the New Right — who actively try to make extremist ideas acceptable in mainstream society. In addition, by providing intelligence, we also contribute to procedures to ban associations and their activities. For example, four years ago, the Federal Ministry of the Interior imposed a ban on the activities in Germany of Hezbollah as a terrorist organization. Then, on November 2, 2023, followed the ban of the activities of the terrorist organization Hamas as well as of the international Samidoun network, which had spread antisemitic propaganda in the context of the Middle East crisis. And in July, the Islamic Center Hamburg (IZH) was closed down, and this center and its sub-organizations in all of Germany were banned. This center had been an instrument of Tehran, which had supported the terrorist Hezbollah and spread antisemitic narratives. In all of these cases, our service was extensively involved! In addition, together with our national and international partners, we have managed time and again to prevent attacks by Islamist terrorists. This requires considerable resources, but it also develops important operational skills. And we cooperate efficiently to counter intelligence threats, to protect both German and Israeli security interests — for example, to protect Jewish targets in Germany from the activities of the intelligence services of Iran and its allies. The Destructive Alliance of Authoritarian Revanchism These successes in averting danger are based on strong strategic alliances and joint interests. As a community of shared values, we as liberal democracies have to see ourselves more than ever as a community of shared interests in order to stand our ground in the current disorder of a world full of ambitious actors. We greatly appreciate the robust cooperation with our Israeli partners because we are confronted, to a dangerously high degree, with vengeful authoritarian regimes that are united and motivated by an ambition to destroy the liberal order. The Kremlin, in particular, defines its relationship with Western democracies as openly hostile, just like other radical anti-Western regimes, organizations and movements; only think of Iran, Hamas, Hezbollah, or other Islamist extremist protagonists. They all benefit from crises and they cause, stoke, and propagate conflict. They follow a logic of destruction, employ all available means and exploit the fact that there are considerable vulnerabilities to attack in open societies. Conclusion In Israel, you are experienced and successful in reducing any vulnerabilities to attack. Already surrounded by
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