Israel's security will remain a priority for "
any German government
," Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Sunday during her last official visit to the Hebrew state, with which Germany has deepened relations during its 16 years. in power.
This visit was initially scheduled for August but had been postponed due to the withdrawal of American forces and their allies, especially Germans, from Afghanistan, paving the way for the Taliban's return to power.
See also German elections: "
After Merkel
"
Angela Merkel, who arrived late Saturday evening in Tel Aviv, met Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett in Jerusalem on Sunday morning as part of her eighth and final official visit as Chancellor to Israel, the country where she has left her mark.
“The relationship between Germany and Israel was strong, but under your tenure it grew stronger than it had ever been.
It is no longer just an alliance, but a true friendship and that we owe it to your leadership ”,
declared Naftali Bennett.
Security in question
Angela Merkel, who is due to visit Yad Vashem, the Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem later on Sunday, welcomed the fact that after the Jewish genocide by Nazi Germany, relations were able to reach "
such a level
" between the two countries.
"The question of Israel's security will always remain of central importance to any German government
,
"
added the chancellor, whose years in power in the Israeli press praised, the daily Israel Hayom (right) considering
"that no chancellor German had done as much to improve relations between Germany and Israel as Angela Merkel ”
.
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The two leaders are also due to discuss on Sunday the Iranian nuclear program which has "
crossed all the red lines,
" Bennett recently told the UN, asserting in the wake that the Hebrew state "
was not going to allow
" Tehran to acquire atomic weapons.
Israel is trying in this regard to convince the European troika (France, United Kingdom and Germany) to avoid entering into a new agreement with Iran which could eventually allow it to acquire a nuclear bomb.
During her 16 years in power, Angela Merkel has made Israel's right to defend itself against its enemies one of the priorities of German foreign policy, while pleading for a dialogue on this sensitive issue.
No detour through Ramallah
For this last visit to Jerusalem, Angela Merkel has not planned a detour to Ramallah, seat of the Palestinian Authority of Mahmoud Abbas in the occupied West Bank, although Germany remains in favor of the solution of "
two states
", one Palestine. independent and viable alongside Israel. Today, more than 675,000 Israeli settlers live in East Jerusalem and the West Bank, Palestinian territories occupied by Israel since 1967.
And although she openly opposes colonization, illegal under international law, Angela Merkel remains criticized by human rights activists who accuse her of not having a strong enough discourse on this issue.
“The new German government will have to put human rights at the center of its policy regarding Israel and Palestine,”
said Omar Shakir, specialist in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict for Human Rights Watch this weekend.
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If no hook is planned by Ramallah, no meeting is planned either with Benjamin Netanyahu, current leader of the Israeli opposition, in power for most (12 years) of the Merkel years.
After 16 years in power, the Chancellor is preparing to leave the place while the German Social Democrats, Greens and Liberals are trying to form an unprecedented coalition in Germany, without Angela Merkel's conservatives.
