In Berlin, the embarrassing arrival of Netanyahu

When she learned that a rally was organized to protest against the coming of Binyamin Netanyahu to Berlin, Thursday March 16 at the Brandenburg Gate, Bar Esh did not hesitate. “When your country’s prime minister threatens the very foundations of democracy, taking to the streets is the least you can do”, confides this 28-year-old Israeli, who has been living in Berlin since 2016. In her hand, a cardboard sign where she wrote, in German and Hebrew: “It is not being anti-Semitic to fight for democracy for all. » Why this message? “Because Germans are always afraid of being seen as anti-Semites if they voice the slightest criticism of Israel. So, because of their history, they don’t dare to say anything.laments the young woman.

Amid the close to a thousand demonstrators gathered at the Brandenburg Gate on this sunny afternoon, Bar Esh did not have time to check whether the German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, took advantage of his press conference with Mr. Netanyahu to “Clearly condemn the policy of his government”, the farthest right in the history of Israel. She asks how the meeting between the two men happened. We sum it up.

Arrived the night before in Berlin, the Israeli Prime Minister found Mr. Scholz on Thursday morning at the Pier 17 memorial at Grunewald station, from where nearly 50,000 Jews left for the death camps between 1941 and 1945. Mr. Netanyahu spoke there with the president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, Josef Schuster, who said he ‘concerned that his government is dividing Israeli society and undermining trust in Israel as a democracy’.

MM. Scholz and Netanyahu then had lunch at the chancellery, before addressing the press around 2:30 p.m., almost an hour later than originally planned. The German Chancellor has himself addressed the angry subject. “Prime Minister Netanyahu informed me of the justice reform that his government wants to implement and which is causing great controversy, including in Israel. As a partner committed to democratic values ​​and close friends of Israel, we are following this debate very closely and – I don’t want to hide it – with great concern.did he declare.

Do not “bury” the Herzog plan

In front of the journalists, the chancellor also advised his interlocutor to reconsider the draft compromise proposed by the Israeli president, Isaac Herzog, to erase the most controversial points of the judicial reform of his government. “It is good that President Herzog has multiplied the consultations in order to preserve social peace in your country. (…) As friends of Israel, we would like his plan not to be buried”pleaded the Chancellor. “What the President [Herzog] proposed was not accepted by the representatives of the ruling coalition”Mr. Netanyahu had said the day before, before flying to Berlin.

You have 51.42% of this article left to read. The following is for subscribers only.

source site-29