The head of Germany’s military counterintelligence agency apologized on Thursday for publishing a report containing a map that failed to show the state of Israel, The Associated Press reported.
The agency, known by its German acronym MAD, said that the initial draft of its 2019 annual report erroneously depicted Israel in the same color as neighboring Jordan.
The agency said the error was “immediately corrected” and an investigation was launched.
The probe concluded that the mistake had been caused by “lack of diligence and insufficient quality control” rather than deliberate action or political intent, MAD said.
“I regret this incident deeply and expressly apologize,” said MAD chief Christof Gramm. He noted that the agency’s duties include combating anti-Semitism and extremism within the military.
Germany and Israel have generally enjoyed solid relations, despite reports of diplomatic tensions between the countries in 2016.
Both Israel and Germany denied the reports at the time.
More recently, Germany backed Israel's argument that the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court (ICC) does not extend to Palestinian Authority-assigned areas, as “Palestine” is not a state that fulfills all the criteria under general international law.
