40 years of diplomatic relations
between israel and germany
Excerpts
from a speech by the German Ambassador to Britain, Thomas
Matussek,
at the Central
Synagogue, London, on Saturday 5th November 2005.
Germany cannot separate
herself from her history. It is our task to ensure that the
lessons of one generation are passed on to the next. We must
all understand the responsibility imposed on us by the
victims of the Shoa. Never again may genocide be permitted.
This very week, the United Nations General Assembly resolved
that the 27 of January - the day of the liberation of
Auschwitz - should be an International Day of Commemoration.
The Holocaust means both
remembrance and warning. For us Germans, that hideous crime
will always be the darkest chapter of our history and a
source of special responsibility. Our generations born after
the war also know that the years of Nazi tyranny are an
unalterable part of German history. They know that they bear
responsibility for preserving the memory and shaping the
future. We cannot, must not and will not ever fail in this.
Especially today, when ever fewer survivors can pass on
their own personal experience of the Holocaust, it is vital
to find new ways of keeping alive the memory of those
terrible crimes for future generations. Today, our answer is
twofold: A growing Jewish community in Germany which can
live in peace and freedom; and a State of Israel whose
people can live freely and secure from terror and violence.
This year of 2005 also
marks the 40 anniversary of the assumption of diplomatic
relations between the State of Israel and the Federal
Republic of Germany. Germany and Israel have travelled a
long road since David Ben Gurion and Konrad Adenauer first
met in 1960. This road has not been easy. But we have
travelled it together, in full knowledge of the past.
The development of
bilateral relations between our two states reflects the
rapprochement between our societies over the last few
decades. These relations, which began with that first
difficult meeting between the two heads of government in
1960, have never since ceased to evolve. Their latest
confirmation has been the visit by the Israeli President,
Moshe Katsav, to the opening of the Monument to the Murdered
Jews of Europe in Berlin. Many in Israel now see Germany as
a true friend and partner.
It is one of the
fundamental pillars of German foreign policy that Germany
has a special commitment to Israel and supports Israeli
interests. That Israel should be able to live within
internationally recognised borders and free from fear and
terror is an irreducible principle of German foreign policy.
My country has proved this again and again through her
actions. Germany stands firmly by Israel and her people.
For this reason too,
Germany emphatically supports the peace process in the
Middle East. The peaceful and successful development of
Europe depends crucially on a secure existence for Israel
and the stability of the Middle East as a whole.
Besides the cooperation
in foreign policy, German-Israeli relations are very close
across a whole range of key areas.
Over the last four
decades, our economic ties have steadily developed, and
today they are truly vibrant. Germany is Israel’s second
trading partner after the United States. Israel is Germany’s
foremost trading partner in the Middle East, including the
entire Arabic world, with 20% of the region’s trade with
Germany.
In art and culture too,
so much has been achieved. German interest in Israeli
literature, for example, is greater than ever before. In the
last decade, more books have been translated from Hebrew
into German than into any other language. It is also very
pleasing that leading Israeli authors, such as Ephraim
Kishon and Amos Oz, are now widely read in Germany.
In several other areas
there is still potential for cooperation. So I hope that the
cultural and youth exchange between our societies will
become even more intense. I also hope that more young people
will join in developing this friendship. They will find open
doors in Germany.
After the war, few could
have imagined that there would ever again be a Jewish
community in Germany. Yet today, there are once again these
communities in Germany, with over 100,000 members. The new
beginning of Jewish life in Germany was certainly difficult
both for the survivors and those returning. But still today,
it remains a crucial measure of the strength of our
democracy how secure and how at home Jews and their
communities feel in our country.
Today these communities
are contributing to the accelerating reintegration of Jewish
customs and Jewish culture into everyday German life. In
this connection, I would like to pay tribute to the
outstanding work of the Central Council of Jews in Germany
on behalf of the German-Jewish relationship over the last
few decades. Without it, reconciliation between Israel and
Germany would hardly have been possible.
It was also the Jewish
communities, together with my Government, who supported the
project of a monument to the murdered Jews of Europe. That
the Holocaust Memorial has finally found its place in the
heart of the reunited Berlin is an outstanding symbol of the
German commitment to the memory of the Holocaust and to its
terrible lessons.
Today, the memory of the
victims of the Holocaust remains a binding obligation upon
us to fight against every form of racism and discrimination.
It is vital that we vigorously confront all forms of
right-wing extremism and anti-Semitism.
