German-Israeli relations

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German-Israeli relations
Location of Germany and Israel
GermanyGermany IsraelIsrael
Germany Israel

German-Israeli relations describe the relationship between Israel and Germany , which is based on a community of values ​​and a similar view of recent history. The genocide by Nazi Germany against European Jews during the Holocaust plays a prominent role.

Luxembourg Agreement of 1952

Negotiations began in the early 1950s between the Israeli Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion , the chairman of the Jewish Claims Conference Nahum Goldmann and the Federal Chancellor of Germany Konrad Adenauer . Because of the problematic decision to accept reparations payments from the Federal Republic of Germany, this question was debated in the Israeli parliament . In 1952 the Luxembourg Agreement was signed . By 2007, Germany paid 25 billion euros in reparations to the Israeli state and individual Israeli Holocaust survivors. Up to October 2018, German compensation payments amounted to more than 74 billion euros, of which around 29 billion euros went to victims of Nazi persecution living in Israel. Every year around 300 million euros in compensation pensions, mainly in accordance with the Federal Compensation Act (BEG), and related benefits are paid out to recipients in Israel.

development

Joachim Gauck on a state visit to Israel with Reuven Rivlin , December 2015

In 1950 the Protestant theologian Hermann Maas was the first German to be officially invited to Israel. He and numerous other Protestant pastors and theologians belonged to a network that was more closely related to the SPD and which had been demanding diplomatic relations with Israel since the Luxembourg Agreement. In 1964 this discussion reached the Council of the Evangelical Church in Germany ( EKD ). The chairman of the council, Kurt Scharf , was one of those who increased the public pressure, which finally induced Chancellor Ludwig Erhard to initiate the exchange of ambassadors against the will of the Foreign Office . Because on October 26, 1964, the EKD Council sent a letter signed by Scharf to the Federal Government, in which it was clearly in favor of a German-Israeli ambassador exchange.

At a secret meeting between the General Director of the Defense Ministry, Shimon Peres, and the Federal German Defense Minister Franz Josef Strauss in Bonn in the late summer of 1957, Strauss acknowledged Germany's responsibility for the survival of the Jewish state, whose existence was threatened by hostile neighbors, and provided armaments aid and funding totaling 300 million German marks in prospect. Eight years before the two states entered into diplomatic relations, this marked the beginning of a defense cooperation that continues to this day.

On March 14, 1960, Israel's Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion and Federal Chancellor Konrad Adenauer met in the Hotel Waldorf Astoria for the first meeting of the heads of government of both countries. On May 12, 1965, the Federal Republic of Germany and the State of Israel established official diplomatic relations with one another. Since then, state visits to both countries have taken place regularly.

The German-Israeli Society was founded in 1966 as a friendship organization. The statutes say: “It is the task of society to deepen the relations between Germany and Israel in all questions of public and cultural life. The society serves to promote international solidarity, tolerance and understanding among peoples, especially in the Middle East. "

After diplomatic relations had been established, it took more than five years until 1970 for an official visit to take place. The Israeli foreign minister, Abba Eban , presented himself in Bonn after visiting the former Dachau concentration camp near Munich. He met with Foreign Minister Walter Scheel for a two-and-a-half hour conversation.

The unsuccessful liberation operation of German security organs in the Munich Olympic assassination attempt by the Israeli delegation in 1972 and the refusal of Federal Chancellor Willy Brandt to allow American transport aircraft to stop at the Ramstein air base near Frankfurt to refuel the weapons during the Yom- Kippur War delivered to Israel.

On his first official state visit outside Europe, Federal President Roman Herzog visited Israel in 1994. After the government moved from Bonn to Berlin, it was the Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak who was invited to Berlin in 1999 as the first foreign head of government. Federal Chancellor Gerhard Schröder visited Israel in October 2000. On the occasion of the 40th anniversary celebrations for the existence of diplomatic relations, Federal President Horst Köhler and Israeli President Moshe Katsav visited each other. The two countries established a network of contacts between parliamentary, governmental and non-governmental organizations, also on strategic and security issues.

On the 60th anniversary of Israel's independence, Chancellor Angela Merkel paid a three-day visit to Israel. She signed a number of projects with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert , including on education, the environment and defense issues. This was the first meeting between the Federal Cabinet and a Cabinet outside Europe. The joint meeting is expected to be a regular event. On March 18, 2008, Merkel gave an internationally acclaimed speech in German in the Knesset . Merkel's speech aroused displeasure among some members of the Knesset. Benjamin Netanyahu said the speech should have been broken off or given in English.

trade

Germany is Israel's largest trading partner in Europe and Israel's third most important trading partner after the United States of America and the People's Republic of China. Israel imports goods from Germany for the equivalent of 2.3 billion US dollars.

Culture, Science and Community Programs

The Minerva Foundation , a subsidiary of the Max Planck Society, was set up to promote academic exchange between Israeli and German universities . On the initiative of Federal President Johannes Rau , the coordination center for the German-Israeli youth exchange ConAct was founded in 2001 . In this way, the German and Israeli youth should become aware of their shared history and the sensitivity of the relationship. There are a number of exchange programs between young Israelis and Germans. Over 2,000 Israelis and 4,500 Germans take part in an exchange program run by the German Federal Ministry for Family, Seniors, Women and Children every year.

The German organization Aktion Sühnezeichen Friedensdienste plays an important role in bringing Germans and Israelis together. Since 1961, Aktion Sühnezeichen has placed over 2,500 volunteers in Israeli hospitals and social programs. Churches and business associations are actively involved in developing the relationship. Since 1960, many athletes have also participated in the youth exchange, who from 1962 maintained intensive contacts with Israel through the German Sports Youth and thus paved the way for good contacts between the sports associations. Both the German Olympic Sports Confederation and the German Football Association have signed cooperation agreements with their respective counterparts in Israel.

Over 100 Israeli cities and local authorities maintain connections with Germany. Haifa has five city ​​partnerships in Germany, Tel Aviv four and Netanya two.

The German-Israeli Society has been active since 1966 to strengthen human relations between the two countries. The Junge Forum DIG is the forum for young members between the ages of 14 and 35. Activities include the organization of the German-Israeli Future Workshop to discuss non-traditional topics of bilateral relations and to identify challenges and commonalities in the future.

safety

From 1959 to 1967 the Federal Republic of Germany was a major supplier of military equipment and weapons to Israel. Until the mid-1960s, it delivered American-made armored vehicles from stocks of the Bundeswehr to Israel; conversely, the Uzi received this as a standard submachine gun . From 1999, Germany supplied Israel with Dolphin-class submarines , in return, Germany was equipped with Israel-designed spike anti-tank missiles and drones . In 2008, a secret German-Israeli cooperation became known in which an anti-nuclear early warning system was developed, called Operation Bluebird .

After the failure of German police forces to take Israeli athletes hostage during the 1972 Munich Olympics, they cooperated closely with Israel in setting up their own anti-terrorist units. GSG-9 commander Ulrich Wegener was trained by the Sajeret Matkal and was involved in their hostage rescue operation in Entebbe in 1976 . In the following year, he and his men were able to demonstrate the effectiveness of this cooperation in the liberation campaign from Mogadishu .

Relationship to the GDR

The German Democratic Republic , in harmony with the Soviet Union and the ideology it predefined, fought the State of Israel as the spearhead of US imperialism in the Middle East and equated Zionism with fascism . The Arab states and the Palestine Liberation Organization received political and diplomatic support, weapons and support in training their armed forces and secret services, and offered safe retreats for terrorists and medical care in GDR hospitals. After the defeat of the Arab armies in the Six Day War in 1967, the Soviet Union decided to arm the Arab states against Israel. This engagement reached a high point in the Yom Kippur War of 1973, when an air force squadron was flown to Syria, with which Soviet pilots carried out air strikes. Officially, the GDR advocated a peaceful settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but it developed intensive relations with Syria, Iraq and Libya, which in principle rejected any negotiated solution with Israel and supported the most radical factions in the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).

Only with the turnaround and peaceful revolution in the GDR did the first freely elected People's Chamber of the GDR on April 12, 1990, adopt a resolution in which it distanced itself from the "anti-Israeli and anti-Zionist policy" practiced up to now and apologized. The apology was part of a broad resolution addressed to various peoples.

See also

literature

  • Gerhard Gronauer: The State of Israel in West German Protestantism. Perceptions in church and journalism from 1948 to 1972 (AKIZ.B57). Göttingen 2013.
  • Yeshayahu A. Jelinek : Germany and Israel 1945–1965. A neurotic relationship (= studies on contemporary history. Vol. 66). Oldenbourg, Munich 2004, ISBN 3-486-56764-0 .
  • Lothar Mertens (Ed.): Germany and Israel. Selected aspects of a difficult relationship (= publication series of the Gesellschaft für Deutschlandforschung . Vol. 88). Duncker and Humblot, Berlin 2006, ISBN 3-428-12049-3 .
  • Amos Oz : Israel and Germany. Forty years after establishing diplomatic relations. Suhrkamp, ​​Frankfurt am Main 2005, ISBN 978-3-518-06798-7 .
  • Evelyn Runge / Annette Vowinckel (eds.): Special issue : Israel, Palestine and German contemporary history , Zeithistorische Forschungen 16 (2019) issue 3.
  • Karlheinz Schneider (Ed.): 20 years of German-Israeli relations (= publications of the German-Israeli working group for peace in the Middle East. Vol. 10). DIAK, Berlin 1985, DNB 870549855 .
  • Robin Streppelhoff: Successful bridging. Sport in German-Israeli relations (= Studies on Sport History, Vol. 10). Academia, Sankt Augustin 2012, ISBN 3-89665-579-5 .
  • Michael Wolffsohn , German-Israeli Relations. Surveys and interpretations 1952–1986 (= Zeitfragen. Vol. 27). Bavarian State Center for Political Education, Munich 1986, DNB 860679047 .

Web links

Commons : German-Israeli relations  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c The Israel-German special relationship . Britain Israel Communications and Research Center . Archived from the original on March 12, 2007. Retrieved July 14, 2009.
  2. ^ German Embassy. Background papers. Germany and Israel ( Memento of the original from September 27, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.germany.info
  3. ↑ Congressional Research Service: Germany's Relations with Israel: Background and Implications for German Middle East Policy, Jan 19, 2007. (page CRS-2) (PDF; 142 kB)
  4. ↑ Foreign Office: Foreign Office - Relations with Germany. Accessed on April 14, 2019 : “In total, German compensation payments have so far amounted to more than 74 billion euros, of which approx. 29 billion euros went to victims of Nazi persecution living in Israel. Approx. 300 million euros annually in compensation pensions (mainly in accordance with the Federal Compensation Act - BEG) and related benefits are paid out to recipients in Israel. In addition, there are further compensation payments in social insurance and in burden sharing. Since the foundation "Remembrance, Responsibility and Future" was established in 2000, compensation payments have also been made to former forced laborers from its funds. "
  5. ↑ Yad Vashem : "Hermann Maas"
  6. ^ So Gronauer, Gerhard: The State of Israel in West German Protestantism. Perceptions in church and journalism from 1948 to 1972 (AKIZ.B57). Göttingen 2013. pp. 185–190.
  7. ↑ Thorsten Jungholt: Bundeswehr should learn house-to-house combat in Israel . In: THE WORLD . August 30, 2015 ( welt.de [accessed February 16, 2020]).
  8. ↑ 1957: Christmas secret deal with Israel - VDI nachrichten. December 24, 2019, accessed on April 13, 2020 (German).
  9. ^ First meeting between Ben-Gurion and Adenauer. Israelnetz.de , March 13, 2020, accessed on March 14, 2020 .
  10. ↑ § 2 DIG statutes
  11. ↑ 50 years ago: First Israeli foreign minister in Germany. Israelnetz.de , February 21, 2020, accessed on February 23, 2020 .
  12. ^ Israel and Germany to mark 40 years of diplomatic relations (Israel MFA) May 2005
  13. ↑ Address by Horst Köhler, President of the Federal Republic of Germany, to the Knesset (Israel MFA) February 2, 2005
  14. ↑ Israeli President Katsav: "Germany is a True Friend of Israel"  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (German embassy) June 2, 2005@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.germany.info  
  15. ^ Historic agreement for Israel, Germany - CNN.com
  16. ↑ AFP: Merkel to visit Israel marking 60th anniversary ( Memento from May 20, 2011 in the web archive archive.today )
  17. ↑ Merkel's speech to the Knesset , in: Welt online
  18. ↑ Merkel admits Germany's 'Holocaust shame' . In: CNN , March 18, 2008. Retrieved June 11, 2009. 
  19. ^ ConAct - Coordination Center for German-Israeli Youth Exchange History
  20. ^ Robin Streppelhoff: On Pitches and Bridges: Sport in German-Israeli Relations . In: ICSSPE (Ed.), Opportunities and Challenges in Sport Bilateral German-Israeli Symposium, Bonn 2016, pp. 13–22. Robin Streppelhoff: Successful bridging. Sport in German-Israeli relations (= Studies on Sport History, Vol. 10). Academia, Sankt Augustin 2012, pp. 104–119.
  21. ↑ Choose your family, Haaretz
  22. ^ Williamson Murray , MacGregor Knox, Alvin H. Bernstein (eds.): The making of strategy. Rulers, states, and war. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge u. a. 1994, ISBN 0-521-45389-5 , p. 549.
  23. ^ Yaakov Lappin: Israel, Germany develop Nuclear Warning System. The Jerusalem Post , November 17, 2008, retrieved July 22, 2019 : "Working in secret, Israel and Germany have jointly developed a nuclear missile detection system, according to the Defense News Web site."
  24. ↑ 30 years ago: Why the GDR People's Chamber apologized to Israel. Israel Network, April 11, 2020, accessed April 18, 2020 .
  25. ↑ Richard Herzinger: Jeffrey Herf: The unexplained war of the GDR against Israel . In: THE WORLD . July 11, 2016 ( welt.de [accessed March 18, 2020]).
  26. ↑ 30 years ago: Why the GDR People's Chamber apologized to Israel. Israel Network, April 11, 2020, accessed April 18, 2020 .
  27. ↑ Printed matter No. 4. In: Bundestag.de. April 12, 1990, accessed April 18, 2020 .