Germany issues sharp rebuke of charges that criticism of Israel's war on Gaza suggests antisemitism

Germany's foreign minister has issued a sharp rebuke of charges that Berlin's criticism of Israel's war on Gaza equates to a lack of support for the Israeli state or suggests it is antisemitic. 

"Our committed fight against anti-Semitism and our full support for the right to exist and the security of the state of Israel must not be instrumentalised for the conflict and the warfare currently being waged in the Gaza Strip," Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said on Tuesday. 

"We are now at a point where we have to think very carefully about what further steps to take," he added.