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In the midst of the recent anti-Semitic riots in several German municipalities, the city of Hagen has hung the Israeli flag.
This step served "exclusively to de-escalate" and took place on Wednesday at the request of the police, the city announced on Friday.
Previously, at the request of the German-Israeli Society, the municipality hoisted the Israeli flag in front of its town hall to indicate the establishment of diplomatic relations between Israel and Germany on May 12, 1965.
The North Rhine-Westphalian Ministry of the Interior contradicted the portrayal of the city in the evening.
A spokesman said the city council made the decision to take down the flag on its own.
“There was no request from the Hagen police.” However, the police pointed out to the city of Hagen that, according to their findings, the Israel flag was causing displeasure within the Muslim community.
In addition, she had indicated that there could therefore be an escalation if necessary.
Against the background of current events in the Middle East, the raising of the flag was seen by many people as a unilateral expression of solidarity, the city said.
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Many complaints were received in the administration and the police on Wednesday.
At lunchtime, the police urgently asked the municipality to remove the flag immediately.
The city of Hagen has by no means positioned itself politically in the current conflict, emphasized Mayor Erik O. Schulz.
There had been anti-Semitic and anti-Israel riots in the past few days in Gelsenkirchen, Solingen, Düsseldorf, Münster and Bonn, as well as in other German cities.
Note: The text was initially headed with "At the urging of the police - City of Hagen hangs Israel flag down". The North Rhine-Westphalia Interior Ministry later contradicted the city's representation that the police had asked the municipality to remove the flag. We have updated the text and the heading.