Status: 02/10/2022 1:32 p.m
During her first visit to Jerusalem, Foreign Minister Baerbock called for a fight against anti-Semitism and underlined her friendship with Israel. She sharply criticized the building of settlements in the Palestinian territories.
In Israel, the first stop on her trip to the Middle East, Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock emphasized the deep friendship between the two countries and made the joint fight against “growing anti-Semitism in Germany and the world” a central task.
“Germany stands immovably for the horrors of the past,” Baerbock recalled the atrocities during National Socialism. But she also sees “a mission for the future” in this historical heritage. Anti-Semitism has many roots, the Greens politician went on to say, “all of which must be countered equally”.
In this context, Baerbock referred to a quote by the writer Kurt Tucholsky from 1934:
A country makes not only what it does, but also what it tolerates.
Exchange about joint youth work
Both the Federal Foreign Minister and her Israeli counterpart, Jair Lapid, see a way of combating racism and anti-Semitism in dialogue and mutual exchange, especially between younger generations from both countries. For example, by expanding a joint youth work, Lapid said.
Baerbock also emphasized that this is a way “to learn and experience something about Jewish life, not just from school books”.
“Settlement construction not compatible with international law”
But Baerbock also expressed clear criticism with regard to the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians: Israel’s construction of settlements in the Palestinian territories was “incompatible with international law”. The traffic light coalition also sees the best option for peaceful coexistence in the two-state solution, which Germany has been campaigning for for years.
The current “status quo always leads to escalation,” warned Baerbock. And of course it’s difficult to build trust in a situation where rockets keep flying. But that is precisely why there should be no unilateral steps, Baerbock emphasized.
Dialogue is the best way to find a solution. And Germany will do its best to support the resumption of direct negotiations for a compromise.
Baerbock also plans to visit the Palestinian territories. There she wants to hold talks with President Mahmoud Abbas and Foreign Minister Riyadh Malki. The meetings will take place in Ramallah in the West Bank. The peace process between Israel and the Palestinians has been largely idle since 2014.
Visit to the Yad Vashem Memorial
Before the joint talks with Israel’s Foreign Minister Lapid, Baerbock commemorated the six million Jews murdered by Nazi Germany at the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial and also called for a determined fight against anti-Semitism here. “It is our absolute obligation, especially as a younger generation, to keep the memory alive, especially when there are fewer and fewer eyewitnesses among us,” she said in Jerusalem.
“And it is our responsibility to raise our voice against anti-Semitism, against hate and hate speech, against exclusion and violence, so that such a crime against humanity is never repeated,” said Baerbock. So that the children of this earth all have a future.”
“Don’t be silent”
“The thought of the pain of every single child, every single mother, every single father is almost unbearable,” she said. “But Yad Vashem, the painful place, is asking us not to remain silent, not to stand still. Yad Vashem urges us to hear the voices of those who have experienced the horror themselves and to pass on their words.”
The minister also visited the monument to the children. When she spoke in her statement about the Jewish children among the Holocaust victims, Baerbock’s voice faltered.
At the start of her inaugural visit to Israel and the Middle East, the Green politician lit a commemorative flame in the Hall of Remembrance and laid a wreath.
Foreign Minister Baerbock begins her trip to Israel in Yad Vashem
Bettina Meier, ARD Tel Aviv, February 10, 2022 11:07 a.m