“Lie so easy to believe”
CDU Vice President Prien apologizes to hotel employees in the Ofarim case
November 29, 2023, 1:31 p.m
When Gil Ofarim posted his video with the allegations against a hotel employee in 2021, there was a wave of outrage. The CDU politician Prien is also calling for the man to be fired. After Ofarim’s lying confession, she appears shocked.
After the spectacular turnaround in the trial against the singer Gil Ofarim, the deputy CDU chairwoman Karin Prien publicly apologizes. She had called for the dismissal of the hotel employee whom Ofarim wrongly accused of anti-Semitism. “I was shocked to hear Gil Ofarim’s confession,” Prien told “Stern”: “I’m sorry that I believed his lie so easily and I can only sincerely apologize to the employee concerned and his hotel. “
The CDU politician expressed solidarity with Ofarim in October 2021 after the singer accused an employee of the Westin Hotel in Leipzig in an Instagram video of insulting him because of his Star of David necklace. Prien, who herself has Jewish roots, wrote in a post on the short message service Twitter: “It is unbelievable that something like this is happening in Germany and does not immediately lead to the dismissal of the relevant employees.”
On Tuesday, Ofarim suddenly confessed in the trial against him that he had made up the allegations. “Gil Ofarim has unfortunately caused serious damage to the fight against anti-Semitism in Germany,” said Prien. This is “particularly serious” at a time of growing anti-Semitism.
Prien also complained: “The accusations of anti-Semitism and racism are rightly linked to social disregard. With every new victim there is now the risk that the perpetrator and society will point to him and his lie.”
After Ofarim’s confession, the Leipzig regional court temporarily closed the proceedings on Tuesday. The 41-year-old has to pay 10,000 euros to the Jewish community in Leipzig and the sponsoring association of the Wannsee Conference House. If the money is received there within six months, the process is finally stopped. Both sides are also negotiating compensation for the hotel manager.