JERUSALEM (AP) — An Israeli parliamentary committee has denounced a ruling in Germany banning ritual circumcision in part of the country.

A regional court in Cologne recently ruled that circumcising young boys for religious reasons amounts to bodily harm, even if parents agree to it.

Circumcision of baby boys is a fundamental Jewish religious ritual.

The denunciation came after the committee met Monday with the German ambassador to Israel, Andreas Michaelis.

The ruling was particularly sensitive, given German history and the Holocaust of World War II, in which 6 million Jews were killed.

Committee chairman Danny Danon said the last time circumcision was restricted in Germany was "during its darkest hour."

Michaelis told the committee that Germany is working to resolve the issue, and the ruling does not apply at the national level.
Associated Press
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