l-r: Hesse Interior Minister Peter Beuth, Modi’in Mayor Haim Bibas and Frankfurt Mayor Uwe Becker in Wiesbaden. Photo: Hesse Interior Ministry.

The leading municipal association in the German state of Hesse — home to the city of Frankfurt — on Tuesday launched a new initiative urging leaders of cities worldwide to stand up to the anti-Zionist boycott of the State of Israel.

Among those appearing at the launch of the anti-BDS campaign in Wiesbaden, the capital of Hesse, were Uwe Becker, the mayor of Frankfurt who also serves as the state’s commissioner for combating antisemitism, Haim Bibas, the mayor of the Israeli city of Modi’in, and Peter Beuth, Hesse’s interior minister.

In his remarks to the gathering, Beuth stressed the importance of the relations between Hesse and Israel, local news outlet Journal Frankfurt reported.

Beuth said that in Hesse, there were numerous partnerships with municipalities in Israel, “which formed a strong foundation for the friendship that had developed between Hesse and Israel in the past decades.”

Beuth emphasized that “the exchange between the universities and colleges and the economic cooperation with Israel as an innovative start-up nation are very important to us.”

He also denounced the BDS offensive against Israel for “spreading antisemitism” and for seeking to “destroy good relations with Israel by demanding boycotts and sanctions against the Jewish state.”