Benjamin Netanyahu is visiting Berlin. He met Scholz at the commemoration ceremony at the Holocaust memorial “Gleis 17” – and immediately indicated what expectations he had for the talks.
Commemoration is sometimes a hectic undertaking. At least on this Thursday morning, on platform 17 in Berlin’s Grunewald. Men in sunglasses and buttons in their ears herd photographers together like shepherds herd their flock. Special forces secure the S-Bahn exit, a sniper has positioned himself at the edge of the action, aiming at the surrounding houses, a police helicopter is circling in the air. And right in the middle, Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli head of government, is waiting for host Olaf Scholz.
The Chancellor is six minutes late. A handshake, a lot of nods. Friendly, nothing more and nothing less. The crowd rises.