A German journalist who highlighted his Jewish background while backing boycotts against Israel has admitted he was mistaken about his faith.

Fabian Wolff regularly wrote columns for the German media criticising fellow members of the German-Jewish community for being blindly pro-Israel or extreme right-wingers.

Wolff also became a supporter of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement and a vocal critic of the IHRA's definition of antisemitism. 

But after signing an open letter in support of a German-Palestinian journalist, Wolff says he has discovered he was not a Jew.

In a long essay entitled ‘My Life as a Son’ published earlier this month, Wolff said that he had not known the truth himself until recently.

The 33-year-old explained his mother had once hinted that her maternal great-grandmother had been an Orthodox Jew. 

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Screenshot of Fabian Wolff's article (Photo: Getty Images)

Based on this story, Wolff said he embraced a Jewish identity and even underwent a circumcision. But, he claimed, his mother, who died in 2017, had been mistaken.

He wrote: “I am writing this for the culture and history that mean so much to me, and because only truth can bridge the great chasm of the 20th century that afflicts us all. 

“The facts have changed and so has my truth, which I share here without knowing what begins with it.

“I will not speak from the position of a Jew in Germany because I cannot and because I am not.”

His confession has provoked widespread criticism, including from Professor Dr Michael Wolffsohn from the University of the Federal Armed Forces Munich.

Articles which Wolff previously wrote for Die Zeit before now have a clarity note below.

It reads: “The author researched his family history in 2023 after this article was published. His research shows that he does not come from a Jewish family.”