Jerusalem (dpa)- Germany and Israel plan to significantly deepen their cooperation in the area of security. During his inaugural visit to Jerusalem on Wednesday, Chancellor Olaf Scholz agreed with Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett on a new strategic dialogue that is to be held twice a year. Scholz spoke of a “very important further development of our relations”.
“The new bridge we are building is good news for the world,” Bennett said. “We can bring more stability, more hope and more positivity to our regions and beyond.” Bennett praised Germany as “an anchor of leadership and responsibility in Europe”. He was responding to a question about how the U-turn in German defence policy was perceived in Israel. The issue was “obviously sensitive in light of history”, Bennett said with respect to Scholz’s announcement of investments of 100 billion euros in the Bundeswehr.
Bennett and Scholz had previously paid a joint visit to the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial. Bennett described it as a place “that reminds us of the wound that is the basis of our relations”, adding that the relationship between the two countries today is “stronger than ever”. He said that together they will deepen relations even further, and that he was pleased that Scholz had chosen Israel as one of his first places to visit abroad as chancellor.
Planning for the trip had started long before the Russian invasion of Ukraine began. Israel is always one of the countries that new chancellors and foreign ministers visit very early on. The chancellor’s talks in Israel were dominated to a large extent by the war in Ukraine.