Markus Lanz and Richard David Precht have drawn criticism with questionable statements about Israel and Judaism. In the current episode “Lanz and Precht”, the philosopher claims that Orthodox Jews are forbidden to work for religious reasons and adds: “except for a few things like diamond trading and financial transactions.” This is a historical and anti-Semitic prejudice for which Precht is now being pilloried on social media.
Markus Lanz agrees with the statement in the podcast and treats the prejudices like well-known facts. “Right, exactly. Nothing can happen on Shabbat.” The ZDF presenter also reports on his personal experiences in the Middle East. He met him during a visit to Tel Aviv, Jeruslam and the Gaza Strip. In contrast to the Israeli side, Lanz does not seem to have liked it there. “It’s like the Middle Ages here. You drive past houses that are still in ruins,” says the ZDF presenter in his podcast.
Later he continues: “You know a tiger cage in the circus? And the way into the circus is a barred corridor through which these predators are led in. Imagine such a barred corridor larger and kilometers long: This is how you will be led in Gaza […] and in the end Hamas sits there and says: ‘Hello, ID cards please!'”
Lanz and Precht received criticism on the short message service X (formerly Twitter). A user writes under the tweet about the podcast: “Why is this guy invited always and everywhere? And why isn’t he ashamed to talk about all the topics he has no idea about.”
The Israeli embassy also expressed criticism. “Dear Richard David Precht, if you don’t know anything about Judaism, it’s better to say nothing about it than to rehash ancient anti-Semitic conspiracy theories,” wrote the embassy on X.
The President of the German-Israeli Society and Green Party politician Volker Beck also commented on the platform: “David Precht, now also a titan of anti-Judaism. Masel tov! Without historical education, how can you spread the rumor that you are a great philosopher? “
Even though some Orthodox Jews have dedicated their lives to studying the Torah and therefore do not pursue classical work in the Western sense, there is no evidence for the restriction “diamond trading and financial transactions”.
Sources: t-online, Twitter
