A leading member of Germany’s central bank has caused outrage by claiming that Jews are identified by a particular gene.

Thilo Sarrazin, who is on the board of the the Bundesbank in Frankfurt, said in a newspaper interview: ‘All Jews share a certain gene. Basques (Spanish separatists) have particular genes, that distinguishes them from others.’

German’s Jewish community today reacted with horror and accused him of anti-Semitism and attempted racial profiling.

‘Whoever tries to define Jews by their genetic make up succumbs to racism,’ said Stephan Kramer, secretary of the Central Council of Jews in Germany.

Germany’s deputy Chancellor Guido Westerwelle accused the banker of stoking

up hatred.

‘Remarks that feed racism or even anti-Semitism have no place in

our political discourse,’ he said.

Another member of the German cabinet, defence minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg, said Sarrazin had ‘overstepped the borders of provocation’.

German Chancellor Angel Merkel tonight condemned Sarrazin for making ‘stupid and pointless’ statements.

However, she conceded that improvements needed to be made to education standards of immigrant communities.

‘The key is mastering the German language. If we promoted and demanded that, then those coming to live in Germany would have great opportunities and they would enrich our lives,’ she said.

Sarrazin gave an interview to the respected Welt am Sonntag Sunday newspaper to promote his book entitled ‘Deutschland schafft sich ab’, which can be translated as ‘Germany does away with itself’

In the book he claims the country is on the road to ruin because of the influx of immigrants from the Middle East which would overwhelm the indigenous population and create a nation of ‘dunces’.

In particular he singles out Muslims for failing to integrate and having low IQs.

This influx, he claims, has been going on virtually since the war while the birthrate of native Germans has been steadily falling.

He asserts the result has been a ‘dramatic fall’ in literacy and numeracy. ‘Germany is becoming more stupid,’ he said.

‘Muslims immigrants don’t integrate as well as other immigrant groups across Europe. The reasons for this are apparently not based on their ethnicity,

but are rooted in their culture of Islam,’ he told Welt am Sonntag.

Germany has strict laws which ban inciting racial hatred. These include denying the Holocaust, using the Heil Hitler salute and displaying a Swastika.

Making anti-Semitic remarks is also an offence but Sarrazin’s comments - while distasteful - are unlikely to lead to a prosecution.

Last year Sarrazin was forced to apologise for accusing benefit claimants of not caring about their children’s educations and ‘producing new little headscarf-clad girls’.

A leading member of Germany’s Turkish community Kenan Kolat has called on

the Bundesbank to sack Sarrazin. 

The bank has already ‘curtailed’ his duties for his previous extremist remarks.

Sarrazin has accused his critics of a knee jerk reaction to his views. ‘I am not a racist,’ he said.

The banker argues he is making public facts the government would rather keep quiet about.

‘I am addressing cultural differences not ethnic ones,’ he claims.

And he singled out Britain as an example of success in racial integration.

‘The reason is not ethnic but lies probably in the culture of Islam. One should compare (Germany) to the successful integration of Pakistanis and Indians in Great Britain,’ he said.