After the Hamas terrorist attack, Olaf Scholz was one of the first to travel to Israel on a solidarity visit. Now he is meeting again with Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem, but the message to the prime minister is much more sensitive.
The day could be worse. It is 8:27 a.m. and warm, but not yet hot, on this Sunday when Olaf Scholz sets off accompanied by a bodyguard. The Chancellor is wearing a black T-shirt and dark shorts. The palm-lined jogging route leads through a tranquil holiday resort on the Red Sea. It turns out to be a good thing that the Jordanian King Abdullah II does not receive the German Chancellor in the capital Amman, but in his residence in Aqaba. Scholz wants to consult with the king before he continues on to the much more difficult part of his Middle East trip. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu awaits him in Jerusalem in the afternoon. Scholz is on a last-minute mission. The Chancellor wants to prevent Netanyahu from giving the order for a ground offensive against Rafah.