BERLIN, October 12./TASS/. Against the background of anti-Israeli protests currently underway in Berlin, former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger dubbed Germany’s lax immigration policy "a grave mistake."

Kissinger, who as a Jew was forced to flee Germany ahead of the Holocaust, said it was painful for him to see pro-Palestinian rallies on the streets of Berlin.

Amid the developments, the former diplomat criticized Germany’s policy of granting asylum. "It was a grave mistake to let in so many people of totally different culture and religion and concepts, because it creates a pressure group inside each country that does that," he stressed.

Earlier the RBB TV channel reported that several hundred people took part in two pro-Palestinian demonstrations in Berlin’s Neukolln district on Wednesday, acts which were previously prohibited by the policy. Three more protest rallies involving various groups are set to take place in Berlin on Thursday.

The newspaper Bild wrote on Wednesday that Berlin police had to engage 150 police officers to disperse a pro-Palestinian demonstration outside a school in Neulolln in which up to 60 people took part.