A poll in weekly Stern magazine, conducted by Forsa pollsters, finds that majority of Germans think that Israel is an "aggressive state".

The survey came in contrast with the German government's supportive position to Israel. The poll was conducted shortly before President Joachim Gauck's visit to Israel and occupied West Bank May 28-31.

The Forsa poll found 59 percent of Germans considered Israel as an “aggressive state", up 10 percent compared to 2009. Some 60 percent disagreed with the statement that Germany owed a special obligation to Israel after the Holocaust, while 65 percent said that Germany ought to recognize a Palestinian state.

The survey found 70 percent of Germans agree with the statement that Israel pursues its interests without consideration for other nations, up 11 percent compared to 2009.

This poll came after a debate in Germany about a poem written by a German poet and Nobel Prize laureate Guenter Grass, 84, published in April in a German newspaper, in which he said “the nuclear power Israel is endangering the already fragile world peace,” criticizing Israel's settlement policy in occupied West Bank.

PIC/AB