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German Chancellor Merkel Addresses the Knesset


german flag1.jpg(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)

“I am grateful to you for permitting me to address you in this house. For me, it is indeed a big honor, stated German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Hebrew, as she opened her Tuesday address before a special session of Knesset.

Merkel went on to address the forum in German, reaffirming the close relationship that now exists between Jerusalem and Berlin, stating that as a result of the Holocaust, Germany will remain ever committed to Israel’s right to exist, in peace and safety, adding the Holocaust has brought “shame” to the German people. “I bow before the victims. I bow before the survivors,” she added.

The chancellor congratulated Israel on her 60th anniversary year, commenting on the amazing progress the young nation has made despite harsh conditions and most difficult realities. She commented on 60 years of difficult challenges, 60 years of efforts towards building and growing, despite constant threats, 60 years of striving towards peace and absorbing immigrants from around the world.

Following her visit to Yad Vashem the chancellor stated that the Holocaust has brought a level of understanding and tolerance to Germany and Europe that will guarantee a special relationship and commitment to Israel that will be everlasting.

Addressing ongoing peace efforts with the Palestinian Authority, Ms. Merkel stated that Hamas’ attacks against Israel must cease, emphasizing Germany remains committed towards advancing efforts towards both sides living side-by-side in peace.

Addressing concerns surrounding ongoing Iranian efforts towards obtaining nuclear independence, Merkel stated achieving this goal would have “disastrous consequences”.

“The interest towards stability in the region is not just yours, but also that of Germany and all of Europe,” adding that we are aware “painful concessions will have to be made.”

She closed her address in Hebrew as well, stating “Mazel tov on the occasion of the 60th year of the State of Israel. Shalom”.

A number of elected officials decided to boycott the address, objecting to the chancellor being permitted to address the plenum in German. MKs (Labor) Shelly Yacimovitz, a daughter of Holocaust survivors opted not to remain as was the case with MK (National Union-NRP) Rabbi Yitzchak Levy, Yisrael Katz (Likud), Limor Livnat (Likud), Uri Ariel (National Union-NRP), Yaakov Cohen (UTJ).

MK (National Union) Prof. Aryeh Eldad was among the more outspoken opponents of permitting the chancellor to address the Knesset in German. Eldad explained that the Knesset law is quite explicit, stating only a head of state is permitted to address in the Knesset in a foreign tongue, but in this case, a decision was made to ignore this reality to permit her to address the Knesset in German. Eldad explained earlier this week that this is the crux of his protest, that he did not see it fitting to make an exception in this case.

Eldad also commented that he dreads the day when the sound of the German language is no longer a source of discomfort to members of Knesset.

Close to 1,000 guests were listening to the chancellor’s address, including survivors of the Nazi atrocities.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert echoed Ms. Merkel’s words regarding the special relationship between the two countries as well as her concern regarding Iranian nuclear efforts.

Opposition MK (Likud) Binyamin Netanyahu also addressed the special Knesset session, stating one can understand the pain of those who opted to leave during the chancellor’s address, further explaining that if we remember the destruction of the Beis HaMikdosh (Temple) 2,000 years ago, we must certainly remember the events of 60 years ago.

Netanyahu added that we are about to celebrate Purim, which details plans by Haman to destroy the Jewish people and today, in the new Persia, we see similar efforts. He commended Chancellor Merkel on her strong stand against ongoing efforts by Tehran to achieve nuclear independence.

Merkel did not include meetings with any PA officials during her three-day visit, explaining she arrived with members of her cabinet to mark the 60th anniversary of the State of Israel, nothing more, and as such, meetings with PA officials were not included on her agenda.



10 Responses

  1. I commend Ms. Merkel for her kind gesture; of course, German atrocities of 60 years ago do not require nor even justify German reparations to some invented nominal “Jewish” state where the politicians get richer and the people get poorer (some of whose parents had their bloody paws in those very atrocities); giving that same money to Jewish NGOs that service those affected by the holocaust (and their descendants) might be a more worthy cause, if reparations are, indeed, called for.

    I know German survivors who prefer to speak German amongst themselves; Persian Jews who suffered in Iran predominantly speak Persian amongst themselves, too, so I don’t know what the big insult is, though I certainly can’t judge, on anything, someone who went through that Hell on Earth.

    It’s a little sickening that Netanyahu could say “that if we remember the destruction of the Beis HaMikdosh (Temple) 2,000 years ago, we must certainly remember the events of 60 years ago.” when the Israeli government indoctrinates its citizens in its invented Yom HaShoah and to ignore their true-heritage day of Tish’aa BiAv. These Zionists are such evil liars and frauds as they don’t really care about either one, though the holocaust, at least, got them their State.

  2. What are you talking about? THE shoah is a great tragedy; that does not belittle the destruction of Beit Hamikdash as another great tragedy.

    You just look for any reason to demonify the “evil Zionists.”

  3. It has always been the Torah perspective that all tragedies are based in churban Bais Hamikdash. We do not make additional mourning days during the year. We only add Kinos to Tisha B’av. There is a Rashi in Divrei Hayamim, on the posuk “Vay’konen Yirmiyahu al Yoshiyahu” (I don’t have chapter and verse in front of me now) that says that all tragedies are commemorated on Tisha B’av only. Kinos are added on Tisha B’av for the tzaros in our time, (Dugmas tzaros hanimtzaim byameinu) by which Rashi is obviously referring to the crusades which were the tragedies of his time. There is one written by Maharam M’Ruttenberg as well (Sha’ali Srufa Ba’esh) on the burning of 24 wagonloads of seforim in Paris on Erev Shabbos Chukas in the year 5000 (1240 CE). Everything that happens is measured by the perspective of churban Bais Hamikdash.

    This Rashi has been used by Gedolim for MANY generations, as well as Rav Shimon Schwab, the Bobover Rebbe, Rav Michel Ber Weissmandel, and others who composed Kinos on the Holocaust, but only to be said on Tisha B’av.

  4. Children – please stop quarelling.

    Yes. We have a delinquent family member – the medinah – who causes us tremendous tzaar. But a family member nonetheless.

    Ms. Merkel is a polished politician who, just like the rest of them, SHEKER is their UMNUS. I would like to see her roundly condemn the Kassam missiles, and assert Israel’s right to defend itself against this despicable enemy in every way necessary. I would like to hear statements similar to those heard from President Bush, who will go down as one of the Righteous Gentiles. And he or his nation did not have a hand in the murder of six million innocent Jews.

  5. Town Crier, I was not aware that “all places of entertainment in israel are officially closed, all restaurants are officially closed, all coffee shops and bars are closed. Thousands of Israelis flock to the kosel and many spend the entire night there.” Is that really government policy? As a concession to the charedim? As a “heritage” thing to try to make themselves more legit, as if the State of Israel existed 2,000 years ago? Forgive me for being cynical after seeing how, at Zionist urging, Jews lose their Judaism to become Israelis, as they have since Israel’s inception.

    Regardless, as Midwesterner said, the Holocaust should be mourned on 9 Av; to create your own day is an affront to Hashem because it denies, by implication, that all these tragedies were a result of the Bais Hamikdash’s destruction and, further, turns savage genocide into a political tool.

    Let’s be realistic – Israel was granted its independence because of the holocaust so, naturally, since their legitimacy is always a world-wide debate, they will do all they can to reinforce their (tenuous) claim to being a (theoretically) sovereign state.

    As for the yeshiva system, what yeshiva child doesn’t know that there was a holocaust? What Yeshiva child doesn’t know about the Nazis’ horrific and inhuman concentration camps, inhuman barbarity and more? Particularly in the more “modern” yeshivos, holocaust education is certainly an integral part fo the curriculum.

    There are many lessons and concepts to be learned from those events and while the Yeshivos teach about hester panim and ki lo dirachai darkeichem and al tadin es chaveirecha and countless others, the Zionists use it to distort and blaspheme our Torah (see, we need our own country, army, no Torah – look where that got them and the innocent jews swallowed up with them; what many don’t know is that Zionists essentially did have their own place in Mandatory Palestine yet refused to “allow Palestine to become flooded with undesirables”).

  6. DaasTorahWtchdg, please, do not confuse Medinat Yisrael and Memshala Yisrael. The first is holy, it is the “flowering of our redemption.” The second is the anti-Torah Knesset.

    As for HaKatan (when criticizing me, people tell me I have a descriptive name; how much more so for you!) you have it all wrong. No one is replacing Jew with Israeli. Actually, some people are, but there are always wayward jews. Count how many people dropped being Jewish and decided to be Germans, or Americans, or French. You’ll find the ratio much higher than those who replaced Jewish with Israeli.

    Nor is rememberance of the Holocaust in any way an affront to the Destruction of Beit Hamikdash, or to Hashem. Mourning the Shoah on its own day does not deny in any way that the Shoah is a result of the destruction of the Temple, it is obvious to anyone, even the hellenists, that if the temple stood, and we all lived as a nation in Eretz Yisrael, the Shoah would not have happened.

    Finally, we Religious Zionists never said an army or a country over rule Torah. Israeli hellenists might have said things like that, but why are they any better or worse than the American hellenists or Reform who say we don’t need an army, or a country, or Torah? So please, stop mixing us and secular hellenists under the same term Zionists, and stop blaming us for the shortcomings of the other group, unless I start blaming you for all the Reform, Atheist, and Conservative Jews, as well as Neturei Karta.

  7. doom777, I never intended to imply that so-called religious Zionists are c”v trying to be Israeli and not Jews. I believe that you all feel you are doing the correct thing as Jews in believing in your brand of Zionism. I humbly submit you are very mistaken, but I do respect you, personally, for your opinion.

    However, as the majority of gedolim stated then, and history has shown us since, Israel has been one monumental tragedy from even before its bloody inception; pre-Israel Zionist history, al pi halacha, certainly “has blood on their hands”, to borrow the term.

    Interestingly, American reform Jews consider themselves to be “normal” JEWS, whereas secular Israelis consider themselves…Israelis. Herzl’s original idea was to convert everyone to Christianity, and with roots like that…What was the goal of the kibbutz? What is the goal of integrating everyone, male and female into the IDF at 18 years of age? There may be also be many secular (I mean truly secular, not traditional sefardim) Israelis who consider themselves Jews, too. But your typical reform Jew in America knows he is a Jew; he is very proud and happy to be American and sees nothing wrong with doing whatever his doctrine allows (much more than orthodox, obviously).

    The reason “religious Zionist” is a paradox is that the tenets of Zionism are against the Torah; so, since, one cannot be religious and against the Torah, “religious Zionism” is a de facto misnomer.

    Basically, by defying the gedolim of the time, you have also placed your belief in an army and state and all that above the Torah, since the Torah seems to be against those beliefs. What to do now is an entirely different question than what was correct then; as you say, believing it was correct then is against the daas harabim of the gedolim of that time, including the Chafetz Chaim.

    HaKol Kol Yaakov and many others are in direct conflict with Zionist ideology.

    Hein Am Livadad yishkon uvagoyim lo yischashav still applies. A strong goal of Zionism is an equal place for itself among the nations. Yet you seem to support that. We are all still in galus and edom is the yad elyon; the many Zionist provocations and actions which contradict everything our gedolim before us did for centuries in both Ashkenaz and Sefardic lands are breathtaking in their audacity and, even, treachery.

    As religious as you may be, if you believe you have a shortcut around the Torah’s words and that they, G-d forbid, don’t apply, you are playing with fire just as you say the
    hellenists” are, though, again, I did not mean to lump religious with secular together regarding your observance of the mitzvos.

    I mean no malice toward any Jew; I mean to comment only on the message and on the mistaken beliefs.

  8. And yet you continue to blur the line between secular and religious Zionism. We have nothing to do with Herzl, with kibbutzim. All these are attributes of secular Zionism. Zionism in general means very little, it is just the belief that Jews today should have a State. That is the only tenet. It is not in against Torah, therefore religious Zionism is not a paradox.

    As for the gadolim, you have it wrong. We do not defy gadolim, we just follow our own. Much like a Sefardi Jew is not defying gadolim, when he does something his gadol says, which is in contrast to what an Ashkenazi Gadol says, so are we not defying other gadolim, just follow our own. Never have we placed the army, or the state as above the Torah, or the words of Gadolim, nor have we looked for shortcuts around Torah.

    We do however say, and I cannot see how you can deny, that there are provisions of the Torah that do not apply today. A prime example is korbanim; today the hilchot of korbanim are studied, but they do not apply. When we finally rebuild the beit hamikdash, they will start to apply again.

    As for the galut, it is not as simple as you say. Jews living in Israel are no longer in galut, however they are not in geulah yet. Jews living outside of eretz yisrael are in galut, but even for them some things have changed.

    What is a reform Jew? He says that he is a Jew, but what he calls a Jew is nothing for us. A reform conversion is null and void, and a reform jew without a Jewish mother is a gentile.

  9. Mein grandfather o.h who was a Zaddik heused to say.

    We are the real Zionnists as we bow 3 times a day to Zion.
    Please do not be like the Meraglim !If H. decided to let Jidden live in Eretz Yisroel now He knew what He did!Our job is to make Teshuvo and help others to come back.There are b.H many ehrliche Zaddikim in Eretz Yisroel and let me tell you nobody after WW2 was ready to take each an every Jid in his country so easaly.
    See the good in the land.Never in the history of Klall Yisroel were all the Jidden frum .Look at Shushan even.Unfortunatly look around the world the mixed marriages.You just do not meet them
    In Italy 73% in Switzerland 62% etc etc.
    We do not know H. ways.To critize this is too easy.In Eretz Yisroel there is such a strong Teshuvah movement let us hope the Geulo is near

    Sorry for my bad english. Mozzei Pourim we all went to the Koissel Szatmarer Wiznizer Bobbever
    Neturei Karte to dawen at Chazoiss to beg for the Yeshuoh…..that will soon come bimhero Beyomeinu.SEE THE TOIW SEE ALL THE PEOPLE KEEPING SMITTOH SEE ALL THE ZEDDOKOH AND CHESSED.SEE ZAKKAH that comes to Turkey to rescue Jidden and STOP TALKING BAD

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