Angela Merkel Says Germany and Israel Enjoy ‘Very Strong Friendship’
Image by Getty Images
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said in Israel that her country and Israel enjoy a “very strong friendship.”
Merkel arrived in the country on Monday with nearly her entire Cabinet, whose members will meet the following day with their Israeli counterparts for a fifth joint meeting. The German delegation is in Israel for a 24-hour visit.
Despite German news reports in recent days indicating that Israel and Germany are at a low point in their relationship, Merkel told reporters in German, “We have come here with almost the whole of our new government, and we wanted to show you in this way that this is indeed a very strong friendship.”
Merkel was to have a dinner meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem. The other ministers met over dinner with Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman.
Germany has stood “shoulder to shoulder” with Israel over the past five decades, Merkel said, and was working for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Israeli President Shimon Peres is scheduled to present Merkel on Tuesday with the Presidential Medal of Distinction, Israel’s highest civilian award.
Germany’s foreign minister, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, on Monday in Madrid called Israeli construction in the West Bank settlements “disruptive” and said he would discuss it with Israeli leaders when he landed there later in the day.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30
