National Councillor concerned about Switzerland’s image due to anti-Semitism
Publié : Mardi, 5 mars 2024, 10:01
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The Federal Council is to present a report outlining which measures can be used to counter the foreign policy dimension of increasing anti-Semitism in Switzerland. This is what the National Council is demanding of the national government.
On Tuesday, it unanimously adopted a postulate from its Foreign Affairs Committee (FAC-N) with this demand. The committee justified its motion by stating, among other things, that anti-Semitism is spreading. And there are serious indications that forces from abroad are deliberately fueling anti-Semitism in Switzerland.
The perception of Switzerland abroad also depends on this topic - especially because Switzerland is the depositary state of the Geneva Conventions on international humanitarian law.
Federal Councillor Ignazio Cassis campaigned for a no vote on the postulate. The fight against anti-Semitism is primarily a domestic policy task - the fight against the foreign policy effects of anti-Semitism is secondary.
Switzerland has not yet been the target of such criticism. If this were to change, it would be registered by the Confederation's media monitoring system.
Mr. Cassis also referred to a motion that will be discussed in the National Council on Thursday and which the Federal Council recommends be adopted. It comes from the National Council's Political Institutions Committee, which is calling for a strategy and an action plan against racism and anti-Semitism.
The Swiss Foreign Minister went on to say that he was dismayed by last Saturday's attack on a Jew in Zurich. The Federal Council condemns anti-Semitism in all its forms.
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