Overview
- Hessen’s government, which submitted the draft to the Bundesrat on Friday, seeks to add penalties of up to five years in prison for publicly denying Israel’s right to exist or calling for its elimination when such statements are likely to encourage antisemitic violence.
- The proposal would expand Germany’s hate‑incitement law, known as Volksverhetzung, which already covers Holocaust denial and praise of Nazi rule.
- If the Bundesrat backs the initiative, the Bundestag would take up the measure next for national debate.
- More than 30 jurists said the bill is unconstitutional because it targets a specific political opinion, arguing it is not a valid exception to Article 5’s free‑speech protections.
- The state cites a 2009 ruling that allowed limits on glorifying Nazism, yet scholars such as Kai Ambos say that decision does not extend to denying a modern state’s existence, and courts’ split rulings on the slogan “From the river to the sea” highlight the practical and legal gray areas.