German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has reaffirmed his country's solidarity with Israel and renewed its pledge to never allow the Holocaust to be repeated.

Scholz gave a speech on Thursday at a synagogue in the capital Berlin where he attended a ceremony marking the 85th anniversary of Kristallnacht, known as the Night of Broken Glass.

Nazis killed scores of people when they vandalized Jewish homes and businesses across Germany and Austria on November 9 and 10, 1938. The assaults are understood to have led to the Holocaust, in which 6 million Jews were murdered.

People in Germany annually hold ceremonies to remember Kristallnacht. But local media say this year's commemorations carried added significance as they took place after many Jews lost their lives in surprise attacks by the Islamic group Hamas on Israel on October 7.

Scholz emphasized that Germany must keep, not only in words but above all in actions, its post-war promise never to allow the Holocaust to unfold again.

Scholz vowed not to tolerate a surge of anti-Semitic crimes and pro-Hamas activities in his country. He added that Israel has the right to defend itself against what he calls the "barbaric terror" of Hamas.

However, the German government's consistently pro-Israel stance is provoking a domestic backlash, with many citizens demonstrating their unity with people in the Gaza Strip.

About 500 people joined a rally staged in Berlin by a corporate employee of Palestinian descent on October 29. They demanded an immediate ceasefire to the fighting.

The organizer said Germany's government and politicians have failed to raise their voices against Israel's military operation as they conflate anti-Semitism and criticism of Israel.

The activist added that Germany, as a democracy, bears a duty to condemn war crimes and at least to seek a ceasefire.

A similar protest on November 4 drew roughly 9,000 people, who marched along a thoroughfare in central Berlin to call for the German government to back a ceasefire.

Scholz visited Israel last month, becoming the first Group of Seven leader to do so after the October 7 attacks. He stressed at a joint news conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Israel's security is Germany's "reason of state."

Professor Marietta Auer at the Max Planck Institute for Legal History and Legal Theory pointed out that it is extraordinary for Germany to incorporate the existence of a country other than itself into its reason of state.

Auer said she can say ensuring Israel's existence is Germany's historical duty because the Middle Eastern country was founded as a safe place for Jews following the Holocaust.

But the professor warned that including Israel's security into Germany's reason of state could cause the misunderstanding that Germany ignores the human rights of people in Gaza in order to protect Israel.

Auer also noted that Germany's demographics have considerably changed with immigration from Syria and Palestinian territories. She explained that those and other immigrants do not share the idea that Germany has a special responsibility due to its Nazi past.