Germany and Israel condemned statements made by Peru’s interim president, José María Balcázar, as anti-Semitic. File Photo by John Reyes Mejia/EPA
Germany and Israel condemned remarks by Peru’s interim president, José María Balcázar, after he said Germany was “pushed into a war also partly because of the Jews,” triggering a diplomatic dispute and backlash from Jewish organizations.
The comments came during a speech Wednesday at the Lima Chamber of Commerce, where Balcázar cited the book trilogy Los enemigos del comercio by Spanish jurist Antonio Escohotado to argue that the rise of Nazism was linked to alleged Jewish economic and financial influence in Germany between the two world wars.
Balcázar told the audience that Jewish citizens “controlled all the banks, all the commerce and practiced usury,” suggesting that Jews had “pushed” Germany toward war.
In a joint statement, the German and Israeli embassies in Peru described the remarks as anti-Semitic and historically distorted.
“The claim that Jews controlled German commerce and the banking system violates the memory of millions of citizens murdered by the Nazis,” the statement said.
The diplomatic missions also called Balcázar’s remarks “absurd and historically false.” They said Nazi ideology alone was responsible for genocide and war and urged the Peruvian leader to retract his comments.
Following mounting criticism, Peru’s presidential office issued a statement saying Balcázar regretted the “misleading perception” created by his remarks.
The statement reaffirmed that the Peruvian government condemns Nazism and antisemitism and said the president’s comments reflected a bibliographic reference rather than an official government position.
The presidency also reiterated Peru’s support for the state of Israel and its condemnation of what it described as the “unforgivable genocide of the Jewish people” during the Holocaust.
