Steinmeier in Jerusalem: “Suffering fills us with shame”

Federal President Steinmeier visited the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial on the second day of his trip to Israel. At a meeting with President Rivlin, he emphasized the importance of German-Israeli friendship.

The victims of the Holocaust were remembered with a prayer in Yad Vashem. Previously, Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier had visited a photo exhibition at the memorial and he had been shown diaries of survivors. Then he wrote in Yad Vashem’s guest book:

The indescribable suffering that was caused in the name of Germany fills us with pain and shame. We will keep the memory alive – in memory of those murdered and for future generations.

“Never again!” – This is how the entry of the visitor from Germany ended in the guest book.

“Dear Ruvi, our friendship remains”

Before visiting the memorial on Mount Herzl in Jerusalem, the Federal President met Israel’s outgoing President Reuven Rivlin. A meeting among friends – this impression came about in view of the cordiality between the two heads of state. Steinmeier called Rivlin by his nickname: “Dear Ruvi, your term of office ends, our friendship remains.”

In January last year, Israel held a large commemorative event to commemorate the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp. State guests from all over the world came. For the fact that he was invited as a representative of the country of the perpetrators, the Federal President now expressly thanked his Israeli colleague:

As the German president, I was only able to take part in this event because an Israeli president had the courage to invite me there. I know that wasn’t something that could be taken for granted.

Steinmeier emphasizes the importance of the nuclear agreement

The situation in the region was also an issue at the meeting of the two presidents. Germany and Israel are united by concern about the role of Iran. Opinions differ on how to respond. In Jerusalem, Steinmeier renewed the German wish to stick to the nuclear agreement with Iran. The Israeli leadership, however, continues to be critical of the agreement, as President Rivlin made clear:

Although we sometimes disagree on different topics, it is normal within a friendship that you can still be friends. Our two nations stand together to fight Iran’s efforts to acquire nuclear weapons, which can threaten the stability of the region and the world as a whole.

First meeting with Prime Minister Bennett

As one of the very first foreign state guests, Steinmeier also met the new Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Foreign Minister Jair Lapid. Just a few weeks after the last Gaza war, Steinmeier again emphasized the need for a two-state solution before the talks:

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is not going away. And I believe that the old sentence that we have often said is still correct: In the end, there will be no good future without a political solution.

However, the prospects for early negotiations between the conflicting parties are currently slim. That is also clear to the Federal President. First, a minimum of trust needs to be built, he said.

Personal farewell to Rivlin

Tomorrow Steinmeier will end his third trip to Israel as the German head of state with a visit to a research facility in the Negev desert. Shortly before his return flight to Germany, he will personally say goodbye to Rivlin, whose term of office ends next week.