A German court has ruled that circumcision is a criminal offense, and a Norwegian political party has proposed a law to outlaw the religious practice.

Rabbi Arie Goldberg, Deputy Director of the Rabbinical Centre of Europe (RCE) said the ruling "contradicts the EU human rights treaty which the German court system is committed to, and offends the basic right of religious ritual written in the German constitution." According to him, the ruling lacks any medical basis and contradicts Jewish and Muslim religious' rules.

VIN reports that Adi Gast, a well-known Jewish philanthropist, pledged a sum of ten million Euros to fight the German ban.  He was described by his lawyer, Israeli attorney Motty Tzivin, as an international business tycoon who prefers to keep a very low profile.