Germany's top Jewish leader wants explanations from a Berlin high school principal over the antisemitic harassment of a pupil.

A Jewish couple withdrew their 14-year-old son from the Friedenauer Gemeinschaftsschule Schöneberg after four months of verbal and physical harassment, by students of Arab and Turkish background, they told the JC. The parents had chosen the school because it was multi-cultural.

Josef Schuster, head of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, insisted Monday that Berlin's education ministry investigate the situation at the school and pinpoint any failings. In his statement, reported in the Juedische Allgemeine weekly paper, he also called on Muslim leaders in Germany to combat "antisemitic tendencies in their ranks with all the determination they can muster".

The school leadership has meanwhile announced on its website that the alleged perpetrators in the incident would be held accountable.

Principal Uwe Runkel told the JC that he "deeply regrets" the incidents and wishes the student had not left the school.