NOBEL laureate Guenter Grass's poem criticising Israel's stance on Iran has unleashed a debate in Germany, with some accusing him of being anti-semitic .

As a result of the country's Nazi past, German governments have made staunch support for Israel a cornerstone of their foreign policy, making the country one of Israel's most trusted allies in the EU.

For decades, criticism of Israel was largely taboo, though that has begun to loosen in recent years, particularly when discussing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's hawkish stance on peace talks with the Palestinians.

The government, however, has resoundingly criticised Grass's poem. Politicians, leaders of Jewish groups and newspaper editorials have all accused Grass of turning reality upside-down by labelling Israel the aggressor and Iran the presumed victim.

The author has also been openly accused of being anti-Semitic, not least by the country's conservative mass-circulation tabloid Bild.

Writing in the newspaper, Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle became the first cabinet member to react publicly to the controversy.

"To put Israel and Iran morally on the same level is not intelligent, it is absurd," Mr Westerwelle wrote.

A few voices have come forward to welcome Grass's comments as a valuable contribution to public debate, by dragging Israel's nuclear arsenal into the spotlight and outlining the danger of a military confrontation with Iran - which could cause global economic and military mayhem.

"It is a war that could plunge the entire world into the abyss," editorialist Jakob Augstein wrote on Germany's top-rated news website Spiegel Online.

Germany's main opposition party - the centre-left Social Democrats, whom Grass has often backed in election campaigns - said the Israeli travel ban was excessive.

"A democratic and pluralistic country such as Israel can also bear controversial opinions, especially because Guenter Grass's views are not anti-Semitic," the party's top MP on foreign policy, Rolf Muetzenich, told the daily Handelsblatt. He called the Israeli decision "a sign of hopelessness".

Originally published as Israeli ban on Guenter Grass 'a sign of hopelessness'