The poll comes ahead of German President Joachim Gauck’s state visit to Tel Aviv and the Palestinian territories.
According to the survey published by Stern news magazine on Wednesday, around 59 percent of those questioned said that they viewed the Jewish entity as “aggressive,” which indicates a 10-percent increase compared to a similar survey in January 2009.
Meanwhile, about 70 percent of those surveyed said Tel Aviv is pursuing its interests with no regard for other nations. A similar number also stated that Germany has no special obligation towards the Israeli regime.
This comes as German literature Nobel laureate Gunter Grass in the poem titled “What Must Be Said,” which was published in the German daily Suddeutsche Zeitung on April 4, accused Israel of threatening the world peace.
The poem drew the ire of Tel Aviv. The Israeli embassy in Berlin issued a statement, saying the regime is “not prepared to assume the role that Gunter Grass assigns us.”
Also on April 8, Israeli Interior Minister Eli Yishai barred Grass from entering Israel and accused him of fuelling the fire of hate against Tel Aviv.
According to a survey conducted in 2011 by the Berlin-based Friedrich Ebert Foundation, more than 50 percent of the European people believe Israel is the most serious threat to global security.
MR/JR/AZ
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