German-Israeli relations: A difficult week of commemorations

On May 13, one and a half days after Israeli President Isaac Herzog visited Berlin with his wife, Michal Herzog, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and his wife, Elke Büdenbender, traveled to Jerusalem. Hours after arriving, the German delegation had to rush into their hotel's bunker because of rockets fired from Yemen.

There had been plans for the two presidential couples to fly in the same plane. Why this didn't happen was likely due to security issues, not because of political differences. And yet, it was symbolic all the same. Even though they traveled separately, it is quite clear that Herzog and Steinmeier, who have known each other for around 20 years, are on friendly terms.

Whenever Germany and Israel come together to celebrate, commemoration is always part of the process. This was clearly the case at this year's 60th anniversary of the beginning of full diplomatic relations between Israel and the Federal Republic of Germany, which began on May 12, 1965.

'A miracle of reconciliation'

At a festive dinner in Bellevue Palace, Steinmeier said it was a "political miracle, a human miracle" that Israel had extended a hand to Germany 20 years after the end of the Second World War and the Nazi terror in Europe.

It is an opportunity to recall just how significant the first meeting between the two heads of government, David Ben-Gurion and Konrad Adenauer, was in New York in 1952. As Steinmeier mentioned several times, it was not only politics that brought the two sides together to forge closer ties, but also the people who dared to take the first steps.

What began in 1952 as a political objective, the German president said, "had to grow in society. It was academics, trade unionists, teachers, schoolchildren, and students who began to build bridges. It was these many small steps — from youth exchanges to city partnerships, from study trips to cultural exchanges — that led to reconciliation across the abyss of history."

Steinmeier also held lengthy talks in Jerusalem with representatives of Israeli civil society. The country is deeply divided — and not only since the terror attacks of October 7, 2023. His visit to the Be'eri kibbutz can perhaps also be seen as a bit of "reconciliation across the abyss of history."

Moving scenes in the Be'eri kibbutz

Wreaths and remembrance once again — and the two presidents and their wives standing together, arm in arm, as Michal Herzog finished a short speech in tears. Far above, the noise of airplanes could be heard; closer still was the buzzing of a drone.

The Be'eri kibbutz is on the edge of the Negev Desert, close to the border of the Gaza Strip. When the radical Islamist group Hamas launched its attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023, Be'eri was hit harder than any other kibbutz. There were 132 people killed here, including 102 who lived communally in the village. The rubble and remnants of the households are still there, a stark reminder to these German visitors of the lives so suddenly lost.

Be'eri is a site of horror. This is how people like 37-year-old Yuran Haran describe it, whose father and aunt were murdered and whose mother and other relatives were taken to Gaza. They are now hoping that Germany can help the 58 hostages left in Gaza, 23 of whom are believed to be alive.  

Among the ruins stands Haim Yellin, 66, the kibbutz's former mayor. "Now we suddenly have to build a new Yad Vashem here somewhere, a new memorial," he said, referring to the central Holocaust memorial in Israel. Steinmeier had visited Be'eri at the end of November 2023, shortly after the massacre. At the time, he pledged that Germany would help to rebuild the site's cultural center. His return now coincides with the unveiling of new construction plans and the planting of an olive tree with President Herzog.

It is a very strange atmosphere. The many security guards seem more tense now than at any other time during their time in Be'eri.

Shortly after the olive tree is planted, a series of sinister roars startles us, like the sound of bombs being dropped. It is barely four kilometers to the Gaza Strip.

War is raging in Gaza. In a speech that appears impromptu, the German president said: "At the same time, we hear the very real strikes in Gaza today and we know that innocent people are suffering there too, that children are dying there too."

Only mild criticism of Israel's actions in the Gaza Strip

What can a politician say to mark this 60th anniversary when experts are warning of a humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza and the starvation of the civilian population? When Israeli hardliners, not only from the far-right parties within Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition, fantasize about the expulsion of 2 million people from Gaza? Many in Germany would like to hear harsher words from politicians in light of the terrible images and the tens of thousands of Palestinians killed by Israeli strikes in Gaza.

In Berlin, Steinmeier and Herzog were not in agreement in their assessment of Israeli policy. Herzog called his country a "wall protecting freedom and humanity." Meanwhile, Steinmeier repeated the call on Israel to immediately allow the delivery of aid to the suffering population in the Gaza Strip. "The blockade on aid supplies must be lifted, humanitarian aid supplies, medical aid supplies — not someday but now."

After his talks with civil society representatives and before his day in Be'eri, Steinmeier met Netanyahu in Jerusalem for 45 minutes. In the run-up to the meeting, the meeting drew criticism in Germany. Amnesty International Germany's Secretary General Julia Duchrow described the visit as an "unnecessary helping hand" to Netanyahu and an "affront to the victims" of the Israeli offensive.

Little was said following the meeting. Steinmeier's spokesperson, Cerstin Gammelin, explained that Steinmeier had said it was urgent to once again allow the population in Gaza access to humanitarian aid. And that it was urgently necessary to "identify political prospects for ending the war, especially through dialogue with the Arab states."

Spending 45 minutes with Netanyahu is a long time. Seldom have there been such long exchanges with German politicians in recent months.

This article was originally written in German. 

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