The European Jewish Congress (EJC) called remarks by European Commissioner for Trade Karel De Gucht on the power of the "Jewish lobby on Capitol Hill" "outrageous" and demanded an immediate apology and a full retraction.
EJC President Moshe Kantor said he was incensed by De Gucht’s "anti-Semitic remarks."
"What sort of environment allows such remarks to be made openly by a senior politician?" Kantor asked Friday in a statement. "This is part of a dangerous trend of incitement against Jews and Israel in Europe that needs to be stamped out immediately," he added.
"Once again we hear outrageous anti-Semitism from a senior European official," Kantor said.
"The libel of Jewish power is apparently acceptable at the highest levels of the European Union. This should worry everyone who seeks a more tolerant Europe."
Interviewed by Belgian Flemish public radio VRT on Thursday, De Gucht, a former Belgian Foreign Minister, was asked about the chances for peace in the Middle East as direct negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians restarted in Washington.
De Gucht answered by expressing his skepticism and with a tirade about the power of the ‘Jewish lobby’ in the US and appeared to indicate that Jews are irrational when it comes to Israel and the Middle East conflict.
Kantor said that these remarks are "part of a new wave of new anti-Semitism growing in Europe which holds distorted views on Israel as the Jewish State."
"It has somehow become acceptable to attack Jews through Israel, even at the highest levels," Kantor continued.
"The old anti-Semitic libels of the all-powerful Jewish cabals, the recalcitrant Jew and the irrational Jews only caring for their own, are remade to fit 21st century hostility to the Jewish State," he said.
The EJC called for an immediate retraction and apology from De Gucht.
"It is of great concern that a high-level politician in Europe holding such problematic and intolerant views," Kantor said. “This is even more galling as Mr. De Gucht thought that these remarks were acceptable for public consumption."