A German singer Tuesday admitted in court to lying when he accused two hotel employees of anti-Semitism in a viral video posted online two years ago.
Gil Ofarim, 41, had shared an emotional account on social media in October 2021 accusing staff at an upscale hotel in the eastern city of Leipzig of asking him to "put away" a Star of David pendant before checking in.
The post was shared thousands of times, raising alarm about resurgent anti-Jewish sentiment in Germany eight decades after the end of the Holocaust.
However investigators in a probe found "no evidence" to back up the allegation which led to the suspension of two hotel employees, leading to defamation charges against Ofarim last year.
In surprise testimony Tuesday, Ofarim admitted to the accusations, saying he had made up the story and asking the hotel staff for forgiveness.
Addressing the hotel manager in the courtroom, Ofarim said: "I would like to apologise -- I am sorry, I have deleted the video." He offered no explanation for his false claim.
The manager, a co-plaintiff in the case against Ofarim, said he accepted the apology, closing the case.
Under the terms of a plea bargain with prosecutors, Ofarim agreed to donate 10,000 euros ($11,000) to Leipzig's Jewish community and the House of the Wannsee Conference, a Holocaust education centre, the court said in a statement.
At a time of rising anti-Semitic crime in Germany against the backdrop of the conflict between Israel and Hamas, Jewish representatives strongly condemned Ofarim's behaviour.
The singer "did great harm to all those who are actually affected by anti-Semitism", the Central Council of Jews in Germany said in a statement on behalf of the 200,000-strong community.