Prominent German critic of Israel who claimed to be Jewish reveals he is not in fact Jewish

A German journalist who believed he was Jewish has revealed that he has discovered that he is not in fact Jewish. 

Fabian Wolff, who has previously written for the German-Jewish publication, the Jüdische Allgemeine, and Die Zeit, made the revelation in an essay published in the Zeit Online, entitled, “My Life as a Son”.

Mr Wolff is a well-known critic of the State of Israel and has publicly rejected the use of the International Definition of Antisemitism. 

In the essay, Mr Wolff wrote that he had believed he was Jewish after his mother, who passed away in 2017, had implied that his maternal great-grandmother was Orthodox Jewish. After being told this, he embraced his supposed Jewish identity, attended a synagogue and went as far as having a circumcision. 

According to Mr Wolff, he only realised that he was not Jewish recently after he spent a substantial time completing archival research. 

In his essay, he writes: “I will not speak from the position of a Jew in Germany because I cannot and because I am not.”

Articles that were written by Mr Wolff and have been published in Die Zeit now end with a note that says: “The author researched his family history in 2023 after this article was published. His research shows that he does not come from a Jewish family.”

Philipp Peyman Engel, a journalist who writes for the Jüdische Allgemeine, said: “In journalistic circles, the question was not when Fabian Wolff’s costume Judaism would be exposed, but only who would make it public first.”

He added, “Because in September 2021, some journalists in Berlin received detailed research into the extent to which [Mr] Wolff’s Jewish biography was made up from start to finish.”

Campaign Against Antisemitism reports on news and incidents relating to antisemitism in Germany, which have increased considerably.