German Nobel literature laureate Günter Grass hit back on Thursday against the media for what he dubbed as a "campaign" by critics of his poem on Iran-Israeli relations.

The 84-year-old writer sparked worldwide outrage over his poem, "What must be said," in which said he feared a nuclear-armed Israel "could wipe out the Iranian people" with a "first strike.”

Commentators in Germany and abroad said the poem, published on Wednesday, contains a one-sided portrayal of Israel as an aggressor against Iran.

Grass replied on Thursday: "The tenor throughout is, 'don't focus at all on the content of the poem' but rather, conduct a campaign against me and claim that my reputation is now damaged for all time."

In his video interview with public broadcaster NDR, he went on to say he found the personal accusations against him "hurtful," adding that he was particularly stung by the accusations of anti-Semitism.

Message lost?

"I have noticed that in a democratic country with press freedom that people are expected to toe the line and that there is a refusal to address the content and the questions I raise here," Grass said.

Grass also said there was a taboo in Germany about referring to Israel as a "nuclear power" and that he could no longer join in "the general silence." He claimed to have received numerous messages of support, despite the media outcry.

Israelis widely believed to have the Middle East's only nuclear arsenal but does not admit or deny it.

Israel sees Iran as a potential threat, because of Tehran's nuclear program and repeated past statements by Iranian leaders of their intention to "wipe" the Jewish state off the map. In recent months, there has been speculation that Israel may intend to launch a military strike at Iran's nuclear facilities to hamper that country's nuclear program.

Drawing fire

Grass, author of the renowned anti-war novel "The Tin Drum," had pressed his country for decades to face up to its Nazi past. His fans were then shocked in 2006 when he admitted, six decades after World War II, that he had been a member of Hitler's notorious Waffen SS.

He has been known for 25 years as a leftist writer who often criticizes German and US foreign policy. This poem, however, drew fire from around the globe. His only regret, he said, was that he did not make it clear that his poem was criticizing the government of Israel, not Israel itself.

Both Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Nobel Peace Laureate Elie Wiesel expressed concern over the poem.

"Günter Grass's shameful moral equivalence between Israel and Iran, a regime that denies the Holocaust and threatens to annihilate Israel, says little about Israel and much about Mr. Grass," a statement from Netanyahu's office said.

Wiesel, meanwhile, published his own thoughts in a daily newspaper. "Iran is ruled by a cruel dictator, who has repeatedly announced his intention to destroy Israel. So how does Grass decide that Israel is the threat to world peace, and not Iran?" he asked in the Yediot Aharanot daily.

tm/mz (AFP, dpa, Reuters)