Germany-Israel relations
Encyclopedia
Germany-Israel relations refers to the special relationship between Israel
and Germany
based on shared beliefs, Western values and a combination of historical perspectives. Among the most important factors in their relations is Nazi Germany
's genocide
of European Jews during the Holocaust
.
David Ben Gurion, the chairman of the Jewish Claims Conference Nahum Goldmann
, and the Chancellor of West Germany
Konrad Adenauer
. Because of the sensitivity of accepting reparations, this decision was intensely debated in the Israeli Knesset
. In 1952, the Reparations Agreement was signed. All in all, as of 2007 Germany had paid 25 billion euros in reparations to the Israeli state and individual Israeli holocaust survivors.
became the first German to be officially invited to Israel. It took another fifteen years until West Germany and Israel established diplomatic relations in 1965. Since then, mutual state visit
s regularly occur, although for many years relations were affected by the fact that Jews both in and outside Israel maintained a deep mistrust of Germany and the German people. German President Roman Herzog
's first official visit outside Europe was to Israel in 1994. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak
was the first foreign leader received in Berlin after the German government's relocation from Bonn
in the fall of 1999. German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder
visited Israel in October 2000.
In 2005, the year of the 40th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic relations, German President Horst Köhler
and Israel's former President Moshe Katsav
exchanged state visits.
The two countries established a network of contacts between parliamentary, governmental, and non-governmental organization
s, as well as strategic and security ties.
On January 30, 2008, German Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman announced that the German and Israeli cabinets would meet jointly in Israel in March 2008, in honor of Israel's 60th anniversary celebrations. The meeting represents the first time the German cabinet has met with another cabinet outside of Europe. The joint meeting is expected to become an annual occurrence, and the next instance is scheduled to take place in Germany in 2009. Israel
and Germany
strengthened their ties on March 17, 2008 in one of the highlights of German Chancellor Angela Merkel
's three-day visit to mark the 60th anniversary of Israel's creation. Merkel and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert
signed off on a range of projects, including in education
, the environment and defense
. German Chancellor Angela Merkel
told Israel
of Germany
's "Holocaust shame," and asserted its support for the Jewish state during an unprecedented speech to the Knesset
on March 18, 2008. Merkel's decision to give the speech in German caused an uproar with some members, including Benjamin Netanyahu
, saying the speech should be called off, or that Merkel should have to address the Knesset in English.
/Middle East
region.
President Wolfgang Thierse
promoted the establishment of German-Israeli Youth Office – modelled on Germany’s joint youth offices with France and Poland – as a tool to educate German and Israeli youth about their respective histories and the sensitivities of their relationship.
A number of exchange programs work between young Germans and Israelis. About 2,000 Israelis and 4,500 Germans currently participate each year in the exchange program run by Germany's Federal Ministry for the Family, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth. The German organization Action Reconciliation (Aktion Sühnezeichen) has played a role in bringing Germans and Israelis together. Since 1961, Action Reconciliation has sent about 2,500 volunteers to work in Israeli hospitals and social welfare programs. Churches
and trade union
s have been active in fostering relations.
Israel places great importance on sister city relationships with German cities. Haifa has five sister cities in Germany; Tel Aviv has two and Netanya
has five. Over 100 Israeli cities and local authorities have ties with Germany.
was a significant supplier of military equipment and arms to Israel. However, after 1965, when West Germany backed out of an agreement to sell tanks to Israel, the United States filled the order by selling 210 M48 Patton
tanks. The Merkava 4
, uses a German MTU MB 873 Ka-501 air-cooled diesel V12 engine
produced under license. Germany has supplied Israel with Dolphin class submarine
s while Germany utilizes the Israeli-designed Spike Anti-Tank Missile
. In 2008, it was revealed that Germany and Israel had been jointly developing a nuclear warning system, dubbed Operation Bluebird, in secret.
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
and Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
based on shared beliefs, Western values and a combination of historical perspectives. Among the most important factors in their relations is Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
's genocide
Genocide
Genocide is defined as "the deliberate and systematic destruction, in whole or in part, of an ethnic, racial, religious, or national group", though what constitutes enough of a "part" to qualify as genocide has been subject to much debate by legal scholars...
of European Jews during the Holocaust
The Holocaust
The Holocaust , also known as the Shoah , was the genocide of approximately six million European Jews and millions of others during World War II, a programme of systematic state-sponsored murder by Nazi...
.
Reparations agreement
In the early 1950s, the negotiations began between the Prime Minister of IsraelPrime Minister of Israel
The Prime Minister of Israel is the head of the Israeli government and the most powerful political figure in Israel . The prime minister is the country's chief executive. The official residence of the prime minister, Beit Rosh Hamemshala is in Jerusalem...
David Ben Gurion, the chairman of the Jewish Claims Conference Nahum Goldmann
Nahum Goldmann
Nahum Goldmann was a leading Zionist and the founder and longtime president of the World Jewish Congress.-Biography:...
, and the Chancellor of West Germany
West Germany
West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....
Konrad Adenauer
Konrad Adenauer
Konrad Hermann Joseph Adenauer was a German statesman. He was the chancellor of the West Germany from 1949 to 1963. He is widely recognised as a person who led his country from the ruins of World War II to a powerful and prosperous nation that had forged close relations with old enemies France,...
. Because of the sensitivity of accepting reparations, this decision was intensely debated in the Israeli Knesset
Knesset
The Knesset is the unicameral legislature of Israel, located in Givat Ram, Jerusalem.-Role in Israeli Government :The legislative branch of the Israeli government, the Knesset passes all laws, elects the President and Prime Minister , approves the cabinet, and supervises the work of the government...
. In 1952, the Reparations Agreement was signed. All in all, as of 2007 Germany had paid 25 billion euros in reparations to the Israeli state and individual Israeli holocaust survivors.
Diplomacy and politics
In 1950, Hermann MaasHermann Maas
Hermann Maas was a Protestant minister, a doctor of theology and named one of the Righteous Among the Nations, a title given by the Israeli organization for study and remembrance of the Holocaust - Yad Vashem, for people who helped save the lives of Jews during the Holocaust without seeking to...
became the first German to be officially invited to Israel. It took another fifteen years until West Germany and Israel established diplomatic relations in 1965. Since then, mutual state visit
State visit
A state visit is a formal visit by a foreign head of state to another nation, at the invitation of that nation's head of state. State visits are the highest form of diplomatic contact between two nations, and are marked by ceremonial pomp and diplomatic protocol. In parliamentary democracies, heads...
s regularly occur, although for many years relations were affected by the fact that Jews both in and outside Israel maintained a deep mistrust of Germany and the German people. German President Roman Herzog
Roman Herzog
Roman Herzog is a German politician as a member of the Christian Democratic Union, and served as President of Germany from 1994 to 1999...
's first official visit outside Europe was to Israel in 1994. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak
Ehud Barak
Ehud Barak is an Israeli politician who served as Prime Minister from 1999 until 2001. He was leader of the Labor Party until January 2011 and holds the posts of Minister of Defense and Deputy Prime Minister in Binyamin Netanyahu's government....
was the first foreign leader received in Berlin after the German government's relocation from Bonn
Bonn
Bonn is the 19th largest city in Germany. Located in the Cologne/Bonn Region, about 25 kilometres south of Cologne on the river Rhine in the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, it was the capital of West Germany from 1949 to 1990 and the official seat of government of united Germany from 1990 to 1999....
in the fall of 1999. German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder
Gerhard Schröder
Gerhard Fritz Kurt Schröder is a German politician, and was Chancellor of Germany from 1998 to 2005. A member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany , he led a coalition government of the SPD and the Greens. Before becoming a full-time politician, he was a lawyer, and before becoming Chancellor...
visited Israel in October 2000.
In 2005, the year of the 40th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic relations, German President Horst Köhler
Horst Köhler
Horst Köhler is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union. He was President of Germany from 2004 to 2010. As the candidate of the two Christian Democratic sister parties, the CDU and the CSU, and the liberal FDP, Köhler was elected to his first five-year term by the Federal Assembly on...
and Israel's former President Moshe Katsav
Moshe Katsav
Moshe Katsav is an Israeli politician. He served as the eighth President of Israel, a leading Likud member of the Israeli Knesset, and a Cabinet Minister in its government....
exchanged state visits.
The two countries established a network of contacts between parliamentary, governmental, and non-governmental organization
Non-governmental organization
A non-governmental organization is a legally constituted organization created by natural or legal persons that operates independently from any government. The term originated from the United Nations , and is normally used to refer to organizations that do not form part of the government and are...
s, as well as strategic and security ties.
On January 30, 2008, German Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman announced that the German and Israeli cabinets would meet jointly in Israel in March 2008, in honor of Israel's 60th anniversary celebrations. The meeting represents the first time the German cabinet has met with another cabinet outside of Europe. The joint meeting is expected to become an annual occurrence, and the next instance is scheduled to take place in Germany in 2009. Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
and Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
strengthened their ties on March 17, 2008 in one of the highlights of German Chancellor Angela Merkel
Angela Merkel
Angela Dorothea Merkel is the current Chancellor of Germany . Merkel, elected to the Bundestag from Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, has been the chairwoman of the Christian Democratic Union since 2000, and chairwoman of the CDU-CSU parliamentary coalition from 2002 to 2005.From 2005 to 2009 she led a...
's three-day visit to mark the 60th anniversary of Israel's creation. Merkel and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert
Ehud Olmert
Ehud Olmert is an Israeli politician and lawyer. He served as Prime Minister of Israel from 2006 to 2009, as a Cabinet Minister from 1988 to 1992 and from 2003 to 2006, and as Mayor of Jerusalem from 1993 to 2003....
signed off on a range of projects, including in education
Education
Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...
, the environment and defense
Defense (military)
Defense has several uses in the sphere of military application.Personal defense implies measures taken by individual soldiers in protecting themselves whether by use of protective materials such as armor, or field construction of trenches or a bunker, or by using weapons that prevent the enemy...
. German Chancellor Angela Merkel
Angela Merkel
Angela Dorothea Merkel is the current Chancellor of Germany . Merkel, elected to the Bundestag from Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, has been the chairwoman of the Christian Democratic Union since 2000, and chairwoman of the CDU-CSU parliamentary coalition from 2002 to 2005.From 2005 to 2009 she led a...
told Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
of Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
's "Holocaust shame," and asserted its support for the Jewish state during an unprecedented speech to the Knesset
Knesset
The Knesset is the unicameral legislature of Israel, located in Givat Ram, Jerusalem.-Role in Israeli Government :The legislative branch of the Israeli government, the Knesset passes all laws, elects the President and Prime Minister , approves the cabinet, and supervises the work of the government...
on March 18, 2008. Merkel's decision to give the speech in German caused an uproar with some members, including Benjamin Netanyahu
Benjamin Netanyahu
Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu is the current Prime Minister of Israel. He serves also as the Chairman of the Likud Party, as a Knesset member, as the Health Minister of Israel, as the Pensioner Affairs Minister of Israel and as the Economic Strategy Minister of Israel.Netanyahu is the first and, to...
, saying the speech should be called off, or that Merkel should have to address the Knesset in English.
Trade
Germany is Israel's largest trading partner in Europe and Israel’s second most important trading partner after the United States. Israeli imports from Germany amount to some USD 2.3 billion annually, while Israel is Germany’s fourth largest trading partner in the North AfricaNorth Africa
North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa. Geopolitically, the United Nations definition of Northern Africa includes eight countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, South Sudan, Sudan, Tunisia, and...
/Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
region.
Culture, science and social programs
The two countries enjoy extensive scientific relations, with cooperation in science between Israeli and German universities and the development of the Minerva Society. During the visit by President Katsav, BundestagBundestag
The Bundestag is a federal legislative body in Germany. In practice Germany is governed by a bicameral legislature, of which the Bundestag serves as the lower house and the Bundesrat the upper house. The Bundestag is established by the German Basic Law of 1949, as the successor to the earlier...
President Wolfgang Thierse
Wolfgang Thierse
Wolfgang Thierse is a German politician .- Early years in the GDR :Thierse was born in Breslau . He is a Roman Catholic and grew up in East Germany. After his A-levels he first worked as a typesetter in Weimar...
promoted the establishment of German-Israeli Youth Office – modelled on Germany’s joint youth offices with France and Poland – as a tool to educate German and Israeli youth about their respective histories and the sensitivities of their relationship.
A number of exchange programs work between young Germans and Israelis. About 2,000 Israelis and 4,500 Germans currently participate each year in the exchange program run by Germany's Federal Ministry for the Family, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth. The German organization Action Reconciliation (Aktion Sühnezeichen) has played a role in bringing Germans and Israelis together. Since 1961, Action Reconciliation has sent about 2,500 volunteers to work in Israeli hospitals and social welfare programs. Churches
Church Body
A local church is a Christian religious organization that meets in a particular location. Many are formally organized, with constitutions and by-laws, maintain offices, are served by pastors or lay leaders, and, in nations where this is permissible, often seek seek non-profit corporate status...
and trade union
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
s have been active in fostering relations.
Israel places great importance on sister city relationships with German cities. Haifa has five sister cities in Germany; Tel Aviv has two and Netanya
Netanya
Netanya is a city in the Northern Centre District of Israel, and is the capital of the surrounding Sharon plain. It is located north of Tel Aviv, and south of Haifa between the 'Poleg' stream and Wingate Institute in the south and the 'Avichail' stream in the north.Its of beaches have made the...
has five. Over 100 Israeli cities and local authorities have ties with Germany.
Military cooperation
Germany and Israel have significant and long-standing military cooperation. From 1959 to 1967 the Federal Republic of GermanyWest Germany
West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....
was a significant supplier of military equipment and arms to Israel. However, after 1965, when West Germany backed out of an agreement to sell tanks to Israel, the United States filled the order by selling 210 M48 Patton
M48 Patton
The M48 Patton is a medium tank that was designed in the United States. It was the third and final tank to be officially named after General George S. Patton, commander of the U.S. Third Army during World War II and one of the earliest American advocates for the use of tanks in battle It was a...
tanks. The Merkava 4
Merkava
The Merkava is a main battle tank used by the Israel Defense Forces. The tank began development in 1974 and was first introduced in 1978. Four main versions of the tank have been deployed. It was first used extensively in the 1982 Lebanon War...
, uses a German MTU MB 873 Ka-501 air-cooled diesel V12 engine
V12 engine
A V12 engine is a V engine with 12 cylinders mounted on the crankcase in two banks of six cylinders, usually but not always at a 60° angle to each other, with all 12 pistons driving a common crankshaft....
produced under license. Germany has supplied Israel with Dolphin class submarine
Dolphin class submarine
The Type 800 Dolphin class is a diesel-electric submarine developed and constructed by Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft AG , Germany for the Israeli Navy. It is based on the export-only German 209 class submarines, but modified and reduced and is thus not seen as a member of the 209 family...
s while Germany utilizes the Israeli-designed Spike Anti-Tank Missile
Spike (missile)
Spike is a fourth generation man-portable fire-and-forget anti-tank guided missile with tandem-charged HEAT warhead, developed and designed by the Israeli company Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and in service with a number of nations....
. In 2008, it was revealed that Germany and Israel had been jointly developing a nuclear warning system, dubbed Operation Bluebird, in secret.
See also
- International recognition of IsraelInternational recognition of IsraelThe recognition of Israel in the international community remains an outstanding issue of the Arab–Israeli conflict. Pursuant to the United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine, which provided for the establishment of a Jewish state, Israel declared its independence at midnight on 14 May 1948...
- History of GermanyHistory of GermanyThe concept of Germany as a distinct region in central Europe can be traced to Roman commander Julius Caesar, who referred to the unconquered area east of the Rhine as Germania, thus distinguishing it from Gaul , which he had conquered. The victory of the Germanic tribes in the Battle of the...
- History of IsraelHistory of IsraelThe State of Israel declared independence on May 14, 1948 after almost two millennia of Jewish dispersal and persecution around the Mediterranean. From the late 19th century the Zionist movement worked towards the goal of recreating a homeland for the Jewish people...
- History of the Jews in GermanyHistory of the Jews in GermanyThe presence of Jews in Germany has been established since the early 4th century. The community prospered under Charlemagne, but suffered during the Crusades...
- HaGalil OnlineHaGalil OnlineHaGalil is an online magazine published in German relating to the issues of Judaism, German Jewry and Israel. HaGalil is considered as the most widespread magazine of its kind in German, with over 380,000 monthly visitors . The magazine was established by David Gall in 1995, and is since then...
- Online magazine of the German speaking Jews
External links
- Germany’s Relations with Israel: Background and Implications for German Middle East Policy Congressional Research ServiceCongressional Research ServiceThe Congressional Research Service , known as "Congress's think tank", is the public policy research arm of the United States Congress. As a legislative branch agency within the Library of Congress, CRS works exclusively and directly for Members of Congress, their Committees and staff on a...