Chancellor Angela Merkel reaffirmed Germany’s commitment to Israel’s security during a meeting with Prime Minister Naftali Bennett in Jerusalem on Sunday.
“I want to use this opportunity to emphasize that the topic of Israel’s security will always be of central importance and a central topic of every German government,” she stated.
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Prime Minister Naftali Bennett welcomed German Chancellor Angela Merkel today, at the King David Hotel in Jerusalem.— Prime Minister of Israel (@IsraeliPM) October 10, 2021
PM Bennett: "We very much appreciate your ongoing friendship and commitment to the people of Israel." pic.twitter.com/mZtNNYx74d
Merkel is in Israel on a two-day visit at the end of her 16 years in office. Olaf Scholz, the leader of the Social Democrats (SPD) appears to be her likely replacement if he can form a new coalition.
— Naftali Bennett בנט (@naftalibennett) October 10, 2021
“Compared with your government, a German coalition government seems a very simple matter,” Merkel quipped, saying she looked forward to meeting the members of Bennett’s “very diverse cabinet.”
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and outgoing German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Jerusalem, October 10, 2021. (credit: AMOS BEN GERSHOM, GPO)
Merkel said that while in office, she tried to strengthen the relationship between Israel and Germany through all members of her government.
“It is not only matters that effect our past that play a part, but also our look to a common future,” she stated. “However, it is fair to say that I continue to consider it a stroke of good fortune given to us by history that after the crimes against humanity of the Shoah, it has been possible to reset and to reestablish relations between Germany and Israel to the extent that we have done.”
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and outgoing German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Jerusalem, October 10, 2021. (credit: AMOS BEN GERSHOM, GPO)
Bennett quoted Merkel as saying that her country is “not neutral” in the Middle East, and supports Israel as the only liberal democracy in the region.
“That sentence is a moral stance that is so important to make heard, especially in Europe: We are not neutral,” Bennett said. “Not just because of the moral debt and the special relations between the two countries, because Israel is really, as I said in the UN, a lighthouse in a stormy sea. Whoever stays neutral in a conflict between Israel and countries like Iran and organizations like Hamas and Hezbollah lost his moral compass. You, chancellor, have served for years as the moral compass of the entire continent of Europe, drawing an uncompromising line of support for Israel.”
Bennett referred to Iran’s continued obfuscation of its decision whether to negotiate a return to the 2015 nuclear deal.
“Unfortunately, in the last three years, the Iranians have made a great leap forward in their ability to enrich uranium,” he said. “The Iranian nuclear program is at the most advanced point ever. The world is waiting and the Iranians are killing time and the centrifuges are spinning.”
Israel will ensure with actions, not just words, that Iran will never have a nuclear weapon because it would be an existential threat, he added.
Merkel in Israel Sunday for farewell visit. (credit: FOREIGN MINISTRY)
Bennett also called on the ministers in his cabinet to advance cooperation with Germany in helping Holocaust survivors, increasing economic ties, especially in the areas of innovation and the environment, and strengthening relations between members of the younger generation.
He also pointed out that his cabinet has more women – eight – than any before it in Israel, and said he thinks this is one of the reasons that the members of his diverse coalition get along well.
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