German Military Counter-Intelligence Omits Israel From Map, Apologizes

The German military counter-intelligence service recently deleted Israel from a map that included the Middle East, prompting a swift correction and apology from Germany’s Defense Ministry via Twitter.

The twitter handle named Klemens Köhler @WarumDresden wrote: “In MAD’s first public report Israel is missing on the map.”

Im ersten öffentlichen Bericht des #MAD fehlt Israel auf einer Karte. @bundeswehrInfo @AugenGeradeaus @AuswaertigesAmt pic.twitter.com/3NOCkaZ23w

— Klemens Köhler (@WarumDresden) May 6, 2020

MAD is the German-language abbreviation for military counter-intelligence service.

The twitter feed for Germany’s defense ministry responded, writing: “Hello Mr. Köhler, that is indeed a mistake. We will investigate and thank you for the tip.”

“Care of course takes precedence – we made a mistake on the map of the MAD report, we apologize and corrected it immediately,” the Defense Ministry tweeted. “Thanks to everyone who made us aware of this! Here is the link to the updated version of the report.”

The ministry added that “according to the current status, the software was operated incorrectly. That should have been noticed in quality assurance. We spoke to the responsible persons for the purpose of raising awareness. A political background is currently not recognizable.”

The Jerusalem Post sent a press query to the German defense ministry asking how the software allegedly malfunctioned and whether the defense minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer wishes to comment.

The Post first reported last week that a senior German diplomat, Andreas Görgen, tweeted in support of an alleged antisemitic academic, Achille Mbembe, who reportedly minimized the Holocaust and called for a “global isolation” of Israel. In contrast to the defense department, Germany’s foreign ministry declined to comment and refused to state whether it would investigate Görgen.