I guess that everybody knows by now that I am a big fan of Angela Merkel. (Here is what I wrote back in November 2005 when she was newly elected. You have to scroll down a little.)
This week she has been to Israel and held a great speech in the Knesset. At the end of her speech legislators gave her a standing ovation.
Excerpts from Angela Merkel`s website:
“Mazal Tov! Congratulations Israel”, March 18, 2008
(…) The Chancellor began her speech by thanking the Knesset for allowing her to speak in German. Emphasising that she did not take this for granted, Merkel said “The Shoah is a source of great shame for us Germans. I bow before the victims, I bow before the survivors and before all those who helped them to survive.”
Merkel had begun her address with a few sentences of Hebrew. This drew applause from MPs even though the Knesset bylaws strictly forbid it.
The Chancellor did not shy away from addressing contentious issues. How, for example, should policymakers respond to surveys that produce unpopular results? What should be done when a clear majority of people in Europe say they believe that Israel and not Iran poses the greater threat to world peace?
Merkel said she could not understand such responses. She reminded her audience that Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad still refused to recognise the State of Israel and had no constructive answers to the Middle East crisis.
Chancellor Merkel warned that “if Iran came into possession of an atomic bomb, it would have devastating consequences. First and foremost for Israel’s security and existence, then for the region and, finally, for Europe and the entire world”.
Merkel said Germany is counting on a diplomatic solution through UN channels. She told the Israeli parliament that “for me, as a German chancellor, Israel’s security is non-negotiable.” (…)
Yes, a thousand times: “Israel`s security is non-negotiable.”
Unbelievable, but true: Some German commentators warn that by ignoring the Palestinians in her speech and providing support exclusively to the Israelis, Merkel made Berlin’s approach in the Middle East appear dangerously one-sided.
SPON has summed up some of the reactions here. My “favorite” quote is from Die Tageszeitung:
(Merkel) did not meet with a single Palestinian. This amount of ignorance about the Palestinian side is unusual. Merkel is acting even more one-sidedly than George W. Bush, who recently also met with President Mahmoud Abbas as a matter of course.
More one-sided than President Bush? It must have been a great speech indeed. But I suspect and am saddened to say that this speech very probably did not represent majority opinion in Germany. As Josef Joffe writes in die ZEIT („Vom Nutzen der Liebe“, March 19, 2008) only 3 % of Germans want to stand clearly by Israel`s side, 91 % are in favour of strict neutrality.
(…) Bestenfalls verhält sich das befragte Volk neutral. Nur drei Prozent wollen sich »klar« auf die Seite Israels stellen, 91 votieren für strikte Neutralität im Kampf um Palästina. (…)
Neutrality? How could anyone possibly be neutral in this conflict? Being neutral when a country is being threatened to be wiped off the map? Never.
I think it is time to build up a pro-Israel conspiracy: The 3% conspiracy. Anybody who would like to join me?