Merkel's trips to
Israel at start and end of tenure not a coincidence
It is not by accident
that visits to Israel will serve as bookends to Merkel's term in office: Both
trips gave tangible expression to the importance she attributes to Berlin’s
ties with Jerusalem.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who arrived on Saturday for a farewell visit, made trips to Israel among the first and the last of her long tenure.
Both trips gave tangible expression to the importance she attributes to Berlin’s ties with Jerusalem.
Merkel’s first visit as Germany’s leader came in January 2006, almost 16 years ago, just two months after she was sworn in as chancellor.
“I have come here on my first visit, a get-acquainted visit, because I wanted to emphasize how important the State of Israel is to me,” Merkel said at the time.
The other side is her current visit, one that followed her retirement from politics and a new election in Germany and is a farewell trip made in her capacity as chancellor. The trip itself sends the same message as did her first one: German-Israeli relations are special.
Foreign Minister Yair Lapid – the son of a Holocaust survivor, concurred with that message. Not only are the relations special, they are a herald of good, he said.
“If after the most horrible event in the history of mankind we can sit here together – allies, friends, real partners – then there is hope for humankind. There is the possibility that good can conquer evil,” Lapid said to Merkel at a special cabinet meeting she attended.
“I am the grandson of someone who was killed in the gas chambers of the Mauthausen concentration camp and the son of a Holocaust survivor from Budapest, a child of 13 who sat in a cellar and did not understand why the nation of Goethe and Beethoven wanted to kill him,” he said. “I carry with me their memories.”
“But my children will remember this moment” he continued. “Their father was present when the German chancellor was hosted at a cabinet meeting of the State of Israel... a nation that turned the past, as horrible as it might have been, into the impetus for building and for creating, and which is proud to host you because of who you are and what you represent.”
“I want to say to you, not only in my name, but the name of my father and my grandfather, thank you for your commitment to us,” he said. “And the Jewish people also thank you.”
Lapid’s words, let alone Merkel’s attendance at the cabinet meeting, were unthinkable some 56 years ago, when West Germany and Israel formally established diplomatic ties. In a Knesset debate over the establishment of ties, Herut leader Menachem Begin thundered:
“Every German deserves to die... their hands are covered with Jewish blood... Therefore, there is neither absolution nor forgiveness, and no normal relations will ever be possible between us.”
On August 19, 1965, three months after ties were established with West Germany, Bonn’s emissary, Rolf Pauls, arrived in Jerusalem to submit his credentials to the president. Rioting broke out in the streets, and rocks and bottles were thrown at his car.
Fast forward 56 years, and Germany’s chancellor is making it a point to visit the Jewish state before leaving office, and the leaders of that state are hailing her as a tremendous friend..
Olmert, speaking after their meeting, said he and Merkel spoke about what was happening in the Palestinian Authority, especially in the wake of Hamas’s victory in the elections in Gaza. Sixteen years later, and Hamas’s control of Gaza, as well as the threat it poses to the PA, were among the items Merkel discussed on Sunday with Prime Minister Naftali Bennett...
Merkel came to Israel at the very beginning of her tenure and again at the very end. In the intervening years, the needle has moved very little, if at all, with regards to Iran, the Palestinians and antisemitism. Where it has moved, however, is in regards to the Germany-Israel relationship, which Merkel has significantly deepened.
Merkelina putovanja u Izrael na početku i na kraju mandata nisu slučajnost
Nije slučajno da će posjeti Izraelu poslužiti kao dodatak mandatu Merkel: Oba putovanja dala su opipljiv znak važnosti koju pridaje vezama Berlina s Jeruzalemom.
Prvi posjet Merkel došao je u siječnju 2006., prije gotovo 16 godina samo dva mjeseca nakon što je položila prisegu kao kancelarka. Nastavila je s planiranim sastankom, iako je tadašnjeg premijera Ariela Sharona srušio "udar", a zamijenio ga je Ehud Olmert.
"Došla sam ovdje prilikom prve posjete, radi upoznavanja, jer sam htjela naglasiti koliko mi je važna država Izrael", rekla je tada Merkel. Sada je
njezin posjet koji je uslijedio nakon njezina odlaska iz politike i novih izbora u Njemačkoj i oproštajni posjet kao kancelarka. Ovo putovanje šalje istu poruku kao i njezino prvo: njemačko-izraelski odnosi su posebni.
Ministar vanjskih poslova Yair Lapid - sin preživjelog Holokausta složio se s tom porukom. Ne samo da su odnosi posebni, oni su navjestitelj boljih, rekao je.
“Ako nakon najstrašnijeg događaja u povijesti čovječanstva možemo sjediti ovdje zajedno - saveznici, prijatelji, pravi partneri - onda postoji nada za čovječanstvo. Postoji mogućnost da dobro može pobijediti zlo ”, rekao je Lapid kancelarki Merkel na posebnom sastanku vlade kojem je prisustvovala.
“Unuk sam nekoga tko je ubijen u plinskim komorama koncentracijskog logora Mauthausen i sin preživjelog Holokausta iz Budimpešte, djeteta od 13 godina koje je sjedilo u podrumu i nije razumjelo zašto nacija Goethea i Beethovena želi da ga se ubije ”, rekao je. "Nosim sa sobom njihova sjećanja."
"Ali moja će se djeca sjetiti ovog trenutka", nastavio je. da je njihov je otac bio prisutan kada je njemačka kancelarka bila na sjednici vlade države Izrael ... nacije koja je prošlost, koliko god bila strašna, pretvorila u poticaj za izgradnju i stvaranje, a koja je ponosni naš gost zbog toga tko ste i što predstavljate. ”
"Želim vam reći, ne samo u svoje ime, već u ime svog oca i djeda, hvala vam na vašoj predanosti", rekao je Lapid . "I židovski narod vam također zahvaljuje."
Te Lapidove riječi, kao i prisustvo Merkel na sastanku vlade, bile su nezamislive prije nekih 56 godina, kada su Zapadna Njemačka i Izrael formalno uspostavili diplomatske veze.
Tada je raspravi u Knesetu o uspostavljanju veza, Herutov vođa Menachem Begin zagrmio je: „Svaki Nijemac zaslužuje umrijeti ... ruke su im prekrivene židovskom krvlju ... Dakle, nema odrješenja niti oprosta, niti će normalni odnosi ikada biti moguće među nama. ”
19. kolovoza 1965., tri mjeseca nakon što su uspostavljene veze sa Zapadnom Njemačkom, bonski izaslanik, Rolf Pauls, stigao je u Jeruzalem kako bi predao vjerodajnice predsjedniku. Neredi su izbili na ulicama, a kamenje i boce bačene su na njegov automobil.
Do sada se sve promijenilo ali su pitanja za raspravu ostala ista
Palestinci, antisemitizam, Iran. Ono što se je promjelo su njemačko-izraelski odnosi koje je Merkel unaprijedila.