Steinmeier on Israel’s new government: “We can feel a departure”

Federal President Steinmeier has finished his trip to Israel. At the end there were talks with citizens and a meeting with the new government. Steinmeier again campaigned for a political solution to the Middle East conflict.

On the last day of his visit to Israel, Israeli civil society was on the agenda for Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier. In Jerusalem, the German head of state spoke to Arab and Jewish Israelis. He also met with the mayor of the city of Haifa, Einat Kalisch-Rotem.

The talks were dominated by the nationwide riots between Jewish and Arab Israelis in mid-May. His partners described the tensions within Israeli society to the Federal President.

It is important to build bridges, said the guest from Germany after the meeting. It is important to promote mutual respect in order to bring the different ethnic, cultural and religious groups together. “That remains a permanent task here in Israel.”

“Fill in trenches again”

The new Israeli government coalition of eight parties from all political camps in the country has the self-declared goal of fighting against the division in society. She wants to reduce the tensions between right and left, between Jewish and Arab, which had increased during the reign of Benjamin Netanyahu.

The Federal President met the most important actors in the coalition with the new Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Foreign Minister Jair Lapid. Steinmeier’s conclusion after the talks was positive. A departure can be felt, he summarized.

“It was a good opportunity for us to speak to the new team,” said Steinmeier. He had gained the impression that the new government was making itself responsible for pragmatically devoting itself to the most important daily tasks. The cabinet was apparently also trying to fill in some of the trenches that had been opened up by the polarization of the past few years.

Intense friendship

Just a few weeks after the last Gaza war, on the sidelines of his talks in Israel, the Federal President also recalled the lack of alternatives to a political solution in the eternal conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. After his meeting with the leading government representatives, Steinmeier emphasized that the political leeway of the new coalition is limited because the allies have very different positions.

Shortly before the return flight, the Federal President visited a research facility in the Negev desert and the grave of the founder of the state Ben Gurion. Steinmeier was accompanied by Israel’s President Reuven Rivlin, who will be leaving office next week. It became clear again and again during this visit that both politicians are united by an intense friendship.