A Swiss city councillor has come under fire by Jewish organisations in Switzerland after criticising Israeli double standards on social media, following Tel Aviv’s offer to assist Switzerland in the aftermath of New Year Eve’s deadly bar blaze, Swiss media has reported.
On New Year's Day, the Israeli government offered Switzerland its support for dealing with the fire disaster that tore through a crowded bar during a New Year's Eve party in an upscale Swiss ski resort of Crans-Montana.
However, local politician Judith Schenk criticised this offer of help in an Instagram story. A member of the Social Democratic Party (SP), Schenk is a city councillor in Bern, Switzerland.
She wrote: “I will be haunted for the rest of my life by the images and videos of young people burning alive in Gaza. And now the Israeli government – that is, those who deliberately started the fire there – want to help (us).”
Below her message was a post on X by Israeli President Isaac Herzog, which states that Switzerland’s President Guy Parmelin had thanked him for Israel’s offer of support.
Party distances itself for the second time from posts by its city councillor
Even Schenk’s own party, the SP in the city of Bern, distanced itself from Schenk’s comments.
Chandru Somasundaram, co-president of the party in Bern, said that the Israeli government may, “of course” be criticised, but that the SP does not share the criticism expressed in Schenk’s social media post and “welcomes the acceptance of all offers of help for the victims in Crans-Montana”, 20 Minuten reported.
This is not the first time that a social media post by Schenk calling out Israel has caused an outcry in Switzerland.
In the summer of 2024, Schenk referred to Israelis as “child killers” in another social media post. She was branded antisemitic by the Zionist organisation NAIN. Her party’s local faction (SP/Juso Bern) distanced itself from the wording and said it wanted to engage in dialogue with her.
