Germany is suspected of instructing its diplomats in Israel not to take photographs in the Old City of Jerusalem, which they consider "occupied Palestinian territory."
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Israel Hayom has learned that on two occasions in the recent past, diplomats staying at the King David Hotel in the capital refused to take photographs with the walls of the Old City in the background.
The hotel is located in the heart of Jerusalem and sits along what used to be the demarcation line before the 1967 Six-Day War. The walls of the Old City are well visible from the location and diplomats usually make a point to include them in photographs.
On both occasions, the German diplomats said the matter went against instructions and preferred a different background.
Germany recognizes Israel according to the 1949 borders following the War of Independence and considers land seized in the Six-Day War – which includes Jerusalem's Old City, the Western Wall, the Temple Mount, east Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, and the Golan Heights – "occupied territory."
German diplomats are instructed not to visit these sites, considered "occupied under international law."
According to Israeli diplomats who met with their German counterparts in Jerusalem in the past, the instructions much be fairly new as no such behavior was observed before.
Responding to an Israel Hayom inquiry, the German Embassy in Tel Aviv said its diplomats were not restricted in the sites they could visit and photograph. It did, however, say that it advised its official delegations so in accordance with the "federal government's position regarding the status of east Jerusalem and the occupied territories – a position based on international law."
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