Former Israeli minister expresses support for AfD
Rafi Eitan, who led the Mossad operation to capture Adolf Eichmann, films message of support for far-right Alternative for Germany, party known for its xenophobia, including anti-Semitic sentiments.
The video, which was posted by AfD's Twitter account on Friday, shows the former minister of pensioner affairs deliver a message to the "dear friends of AfD."
"Please accept our greetings from Israel, especially to your chairman Mr. Gauland," the 91-year-old former intelligence officer said.
"All of us in Israel appreciate your attitude towards Judaism. We read your (statement) on January 27, for International Holocaust Memorial Day," Eitan continued.
"I am sure that if you work wisely, strongly and most importantly realistically... that instead of Alternative for Germany, you might become an Alternative for Europe," he concluded.
The anti-immigration party, which was formed in 2013, managed to enter the Bundestag last year. This was the first time a far-right party was elected to the German parliament since the Nazi party in 1930s.
The Anti-Defamation League said AfD's leaders "have made anti-Semitic statements and played down the evil of the Nazi regime."
Party leader Alexander Gauland has rejected accusations that his party members are Nazis and claimed other politicians merely use this label to undermine the party due to its popularity.
Among other statements that have caused concern, AfD's leader in Thuringia state, Bernd Hoecke, called for a "U-turn" in the way Germany remembers its Nazi past, while Gauland himself has repeatedly insisted "we have the right to be proud of the achievements of Germans soldiers in two world wars."
