“How is it possible that the German ambassador can tweet an unconfirmed rumor like some antisemitic internet troll?” wrote Rabbi Pini Dunner.

By Izzy Salant, JNS

German Ambassador to Israel Steffen Seibert on Friday spread an unconfirmed rumor about the war against the Hamas terrorist group in Gaza.

“If reports about 3 babies freezing to death in Gaza don’t move us then we don’t understand the birth in a manger in Bethlehem or the light of Hanukkah,” he wrote on X. “They should move us to demand an end of the war and Hamas terror, winter supplies for the Gazans and a full hostage release.”

Seibert seemed to be referring to a CNN report claiming that four babies recently died of hypothermia in Gaza, which used a Dec. 25 post on X by Dr. Munir al-Bursh, the director general of the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry, as its source.

The ambassador’s post shows a man holding what is allegedly a newborn baby wrapped in blankets who recently died of hypothermia after living in tents located near Khan Yunis, which at the time of reporting has not been verified or confirmed. The article cited Hamas casualty numbers provided by al-Bursh and the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry, which have been proven to be vastly inflated. It also cited two different child casualty numbers, one from al-Bursh and another from UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini.

It also reported that Rafah was initially designated as a humanitarian area by the IDF, but did not mention that terrorists held and murdered hostages under the city. The IDF also recently captured hundreds of Hamas terrorists, including several who participated in the Hamas-led Oct. 7 massacre, at Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza.

Marie von Engelhardt, a representative at the German embassy, told JNS that “Ambassador Seibert’s call for an end of the war and Hamas terror, more humanitarian aid for Gaza and the release of all hostages are very much in line with what our Foreign Minister [Annalena Baerbock] has been saying about the situation.”

Germany has continued to make known its support of the Jewish state. It refused to ban arms sales to Israel, overwhelmingly passed a resolution to defund the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, and charged Hamas operatives.

Many slammed Seibert for his post.

“Dear Ambassador, might you advise us upon what basis you are making these very serious assertions? Where is this information coming from?” wrote human rights lawyer and CEO of the International Legal Forum Arsen Ostrovsky.

“How is it possible that the German ambassador to Israel, of all people, with all that being the German representative in Israel entails, historically and emotionally, can tweet an unconfirmed rumor like some antisemitic internet troll?” wrote Rabbi Pini Dunner of the Beverly Hills Synagogue in California. “Germany should withdraw Steffen Seibert immediately, and if not, the Israeli government should throw him out of Israel.”

The ambassador “clearly” has a “deep prejudice against Israel and Jews,” Dunner wrote.