Israel National News spoke with the German ambassador to Israel, Steffen Seibert, to discuss among other things the German policy toward Israel in light of the German government’s stated commitment to a policy of friendship and goodwill toward Israel.
German-Israeli cooperation has existed for decades in a wide variety of areas, most recently in the military arena with several groups of German pilots currently being trained in Israel in the use of the most up-to-date UAVs, a program that is set to continue through 2027. Nonetheless, not only Germany’s past but also the country’s present is speckled and stained with anti-Jewish feeling, and to this very day, anti-Semitic acts against both individual Jews and Jewish institutions are a daily occurrence.
“The vast majority of the German people have an absolute resistance to anti-Semitism, and personally I find anti-Semitism especially abhorrent in Germany because of our Nazi past,” Seibert said. “We ought to be immune. We are engaged in an ongoing battle to make sure that information about historical truth is given to every child that grows up in Germany, and nearly all German pupils in the course of their time at school go to at least one former concentration camp or memorial site, as my own children did.
“There are 120 thousand Jews living in Germany today,” the ambassador noted, adding that while on the one hand it is deplorable that Jewish institutions need to be under police protection, he is glad that the protection is afforded them, and looks forward to the day when such will not be necessary.
Given Germany’s continuous support for Israel, Seibert was then asked, how can he explain the fact that Germany signed the UN resolution sponsored by the Palestinian Authority (PA), asking for the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice on Israel’s actions in Judea and Samaria?
“We [initially] voted with Israel on the question of whether an analysis of the occupation should be submitted to the International Court of Justice,” Seibert responded. However, “we supported a statement tabled by the Palestinians after Israel punished the PA for taking this matter to the Court. We thought it was wrong for Israel to punish the PA for taking this step.”
“There is clearly a case for a Palestinian state-entity,” the ambassador added. “I don’t see anything anti-Semitic in this it’s a need borne out of historical necessity. For the present time, Israel has an interest in not weakening the PA as they are interlocutors needed for security coordination. And we hope that one day, it will be possible to speak about political steps to solve the conflict, which will require creativity and courage on both sides.
“I say this as a friend who has Israel’s interests at heart,” Seibert stressed, insisting that part of “being a friend and ally is advising, making one’s position clear,” just as other countries including the United States do.
“We know that in order to have a Palestinian state, there needs to be an unequivocal commitment on the Palestinian side to use nothing but peaceful means and to recognize the right to existence of a Jewish state. They have already recognized that this must be the basis of all negotiations,” he said. “I would like to work toward a close and trusting relationship with the Palestinian people, as they too have every right to live in security with dignity, with sovereignty and not under occupation.”
In summation, Seibert stressed his wish to make “this unique German-Israeli friendship even deeper and closer, and to make the most of my time in this country that I love and would like to see secure, happy, and united. It is an incredible privilege to be here.”