Steinmeier and Netanyahu
Photo: Kobi Gideon/GPO
German president: ‘Irresponsible to leave our countries in crisis’
Speaking at Jerusalem’s Hebrew University, German president refused to say that PM's decision to snub German FM over his meetings with far-left Israeli groups was correct, instead accepts differences of opinion; insists crisis cannot be left to fester where 'both sides lose.'
German President Dr. Frank-Walter Steinmeier said Sunday that it would be ‘irresponsible” to leave a recent diplomatic spat that risked souring German-Israel relations unresolved, despite differences of opinion between Israel and Germany over who constituted legitimate partners for dialogue.
The altercation came last week when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu refused to meet with German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel after the latter met with the far-left organizations Breaking the Silence and B'Tselem.
“To be honest, a lot of people told me that it isn’t the right time to come to Israel,” Steinmeier said in his remarks made at the Truman Institute of Hebrew University during his visit to Jerusalem.
German President Dr. Frank-Walter Steinmeier speaking at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem (Photo: AP)
“There were those who thought that it would be better to cancel the trip or delay it. Maybe that would have been the easier solution for me, but I decided otherwise.”
His remarks came exactly two years after he received an honorary doctorate from Hebrew University when he served as Germany’s foreign minister.
“The Israeli and German governments had conflicting positions over the last few days on who is a legitimate partner for dialogue,” acknowledged Steinmeier, who is a more experienced politician that Gabriel and who ultimately chose not to meet with the far-left groups as Gabriel had done.
Steinmeier stressed that he had decided to go ahead with his trip not out of a belief that Netanyahu’s decision to cancel talks with Gabriel had been correct, but rather because “I believe that it would not be responsible to leave relations between our countries in a crisis in which both sides lose. Both our countries are connected by an awful past.”
Referencing the Holocaust, he went on to say, “Generations of the past—not only politicians—worked to overcome that which happened between us and to build new relations”
German President Dr. Frank-Walter Steinmeier and PM Netanyahu (Photo: Amil Salman)
Despite the difference of opinion, Steinmeier insisted that German-Israel ties remain robust and that relations that had been built over time could not be tossed aside at the sign of a single dispute.
“The relations between Israel and Germany will always be special. This is something that we cannot forget,” he said. “Especially in these times, we are called upon to preserve the heritage and not to allow this friendship that was built on the destruction of the past to become less important or turn into something that is alien to us.
“The lesson which I have learned from my experience as foreign minister was that to talk directly with one another can sometimes be harder than to not talk at all. To solve problems, to clear up misunderstandings, to build trust—these can only be achieved through dialogue.”
