Germany has introduced a new law that requires new citizens to swear allegiance and declare their belief in Israel’s right to exist.

It’s very strange for a sovereign nation to require citizens to pledge allegiance to a foreign country, yet Germany did just that in a bizarre move that shows where Western governments’ loyalty really falls.

The unprecedented and controversial legislation, which came into force last week, has also been criticized over its implications for free speech and political expression.

Germany’s new citizenship law echoes draconian steps in the US where as many as 35 states have enacted laws or executive orders that prohibit state agencies from contracting with or investing in companies that boycott Israel. Such measures have been described as a loyalty test imposed on US citizens which threatens the First Amendment in the service of an alien state, Israel.

MEM reports: While the liberal government of Chancellor Olaf Scholz initially proposed the law to streamline the path to citizenship for first-generation migrants, it has since been reframed as a measure to ensure adherence to “German values” amidst rising concerns about anti-Semitism and far-right politics.

Germany is one of many Western states to adopt the highly controversial International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of anti-Semitism.

Critics argue that the reported rise in anti-Semitism is misleading, largely due to the adoption of the IHRA definition which conflates legitimate criticism of Israel and Zionism with anti-Jewish hatred.

As a result, the statistics on anti-Semitic incidents may be inflated artificially because they could include cases of political speech or protest against Israeli policies that could not reasonably be considered anti-Semitic.