An independent panel said Monday that Germany’s state-funded broadcaster Deutsche Welle was right to suspend five employees and recommended further action against eight others following a probe into allegations of antisemitism.

Four of the terminated employees were from its Arabic desk.

The three-member panel, which included a former German justice minister, also urged Deutsche Welle to end the cooperation agreements it has with some Middle East broadcasters and to more closely scrutinize others.

But it concluded there was “no structural antisemitism” within the Arabic department at Deutsche Welle, despite an accumulation of individual instances that gave cause for concern.

German daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung had quoted social media comments allegedly made by members of DW’s Arabic service, including some that appeared to downplay the Holocaust or perpetuate anti-Jewish stereotypes.

The Bild newspaper said that one of the fired employees had written that a “Jewish lobby controls many German institutions,” and another called Israel a “cancer that should be cut out.”

The broadcaster responded with a 10-point plan that includes tightening its code of conduct, improving staff training and vetting its partners more thoroughly.

“There must not be taxpayer-financed Israel-hatred and antisemitism in the media,” said the president of Germany’s Central Council of Jews Josef Schuster.

Deutsche Welle provides broadcasts and online content in 32 languages, including Arabic, Russian and Chinese. It also provide media training through its in-house academy.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem & AP)