Israel's foreign policy stands on two international legs: the US and Germany. Many a time these two countries bear the burden of Israel's mistakes and failures, and enable it to emerge from them more or less unscathed. It must be said, however, that during Barack Obama's two terms as president of the US we have become accustomed to one leg wobbling occasionally. Israel can no longer take US support for granted. So it was in the case of the agreement with Iran, US involvement in Syria, its stance vis-a-vis Egypt, and in other instances.
By contrast, as far as Europe is concerned, the assumption has been that Germany will always support Israel, through fire and water. Well it won't. This week, we found out that the other leg has started to wobble. Within a short time, "Bild" and "Der Spiegel" have both published articles laden with question marks about Israeli-German relations, and raised doubts about Germany's automatic support for Israel.
For a long time now, relations between Chancellor Angela Merkel and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have been cool. Merkel, Israel's greatest friend among European leaders, is fed up with its policy in the territories and the lack of progress on peace negotiations. Demolitions of Palestinians' homes, construction plans, and the recent wave of terror attacks, prompt the Germans again and again to criticize Israel. As ever, the criticism is expressed most politely, which allows the Israeli listener sometimes not to hear or not to understand. But between the lines is great dissatisfaction. Merkel's premise is that holding on to the territories endangers Israel's security and worsens its international isolation.
The truth is that the situation is absurd. On the one hand, Germany's commitment to Israel's existence and security is solid. No German leader of the present generation has yet dared put that is question. The Germans are also buying more Israeli defense products, and continue to aid Israel in buying fast naval vessels to defend its economic zone. On the European stage too, where Germany is the lead actor and calls the shots, she has regularly rescued Israel from trouble, until lately. On separate labelling of products from the territories, Germany gave up. It has not enforced it on its own soil, but it has let other European countries proceed with it. Meanwhile, senior German politicians stress that it is not possible to support Israel unless Israel itself promotes the two-state solution to which Germany is also committed.
Germany does not like the diplomatic standstill. Up to now, its criticism has been voiced behind closed doors; now it has become open. So Merkel said that she understood Abu Mazen, that she understood the frustration, that to a large extent it was her own frustration. Anyone who follows German responses and declarations can discern increasing sharpness towards us. The German's are changing their tune. It's no coincidence that this is expressed so prominently in the German press and media. It's a way of holding up a mirror to Israel, so that Israel can see how she looks.
Israel, as usual, is closing her eyes. After all, unlike with any other country, our relations with Germany are based on a terrible history that puts Germany under obligation, even 70 years after the end of World War II. I would recommend not relying on that. In German public opinion, attitudes to Israel are much less warm than among the leadership. There is widespread criticism among the young, who are many years distant from the Holocaust, and who raise moral questions about the wisdom and justice of occupying another nation and depriving it of its rights. As the head of the Israel-Germany Parliamentary Friendship Group, I hear critical remarks from Bundestag members as well - again, mainly from the younger ones.
Such remarks cannot pass without us paying heed. At the end of this month, a Knesset delegation will again visit Germany, to hold discussions with our colleagues in what is called inter-parliamentary dialogue. Clearly, we shall hear more remarks of this nature. Anyone who expects, as we do, that Germany should conduct a foreign policy founded on moral values cannot deny it the right to apply that sort of policy to the Israel-Palestinian conflict as well. It can't be a selective foreign policy.
As with the deterioration of relations with the US, what is happening is a process. Processes can take a long time, and it's hard to tell when they might mature into decisions (against us). We are on the way there. This week, we received an alarm call. Hello, has anyone in Jerusalem woken up?
Member of Knesset Nachman Shai (Zionist Union) sits on the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee and chairs the Israel-Germany Parliamentary Friendship Group.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on May 2, 2016
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