Antisemites who hide behind anti-Zionism are guilty of hate speech, says Angela Merkel

Antisemitism masquerading as criticism of Israel must be recognised as pure hate speech, German Chancellor Angela Merkel has told an international gathering of more than 100 parliamentarians.

Mrs Merkel said that anti-Israel demonstrators who call for the destruction of the Jewish state "as a pretext to giving vent to hatred of Jews abuse the fundamental rights in our country to freedom of association and expression".

In her address to the Inter-Parliamentary Coalition for Combating Antisemitism (ICCA) conference in Berlin, she also defended Josef Schuster - head of the Central Council of Jews in Germany - who she said was "harshly criticised" for expressing worries about antisemitism among refugees from war-torn Syria, Iraq and other Muslim countries. Germany has taken in around one million refugees in the past year.

She said it was "perfeclty legitimate for someone to share his concern about antisemitism. It may be that [some refugees] have grown up with certain stereotypes".