Israeli Premier Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday left Jerusalem for an official visit to the Czech Republic to thank his counterpart Petr Necas for his country’s “brave stand alongside Israel against the Palestinians’ unilateral move at the UN.
One of only eight countries to oppose the Palestinian Authority (PA)’s appeal for upgraded status at the 193-member body at the General Assembly vote Thursday, the Czech Republic was the only EU member state to have sided with the Jewish State in such an explicit manner.
Speaking on the eve of his departure for the European tour, Netanyahu said that “the history of Israel and the Czech Republic teaches us that we must cling to the truth even if the majority is not on your side”.
The PA bid received 133 votes in favour of it being granted non-member observer status, which brings it on a par with the Vatican.
From Prague, Netanyahu will travel on to Berlin Wednesday afternoon, alongside cabinet colleagues including Defence Minister Ehud Barak and Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman to meet their German counterparts Thomas de Maizere and Guido Westerwelle alongside Chancellor Angela Merkel, as part of the fourth annual Israeli-German joint governmental meeting.
The Israeli PM’s visit to Germany will see the two allies sign a series of bilateral agreements, relating to home defence and security and the war against terrorism, amongst other areas of common interest, and Netanyahu will also attend a memorial ceremony at Track 17, on which tens of thousands of Jews were transported to Nazi death camps during WWII, alongside members of the German government and German Jewish community representatives.
Netanyahu described the German visit as a chance to thank Merkel “for supporting Israel's right to defend itself against the terrorism of the missiles that were fired at us during Operation Pillar of Defence”, during which both Merkel and Westerwelle repeatedly reiterated Israel’s right and duty to defend its citizens.
Germany notably abstained from the UNGA vote last week, claiming it was a vote in favour of reigniting the stalled Middle East peace process.
Paying tribute to the six million Jews killed by the Nazis during the Holocaust, Netanyahu: “From the ashes of the Holocaust, we established a state and an army. Attacks on the Jewish People and its state have not ceased since our independence. The difference is that today we have an army to defend us and we have a government that tells the world the truth."
Confirming the meeting in a statement of her own, Merkel invoked the birth of diplomatic relations between the two allies in 1965, 20 years after the Holocaust, as she paid tribute to the countries’ deepening bilateral relations.
On the question of Israel’s security, she insisted, particularly in the aftermath of the recent Gaza conflict that “Germany always stands on the side of Israel”.
“Israel has not only the right but also the duty to protect its v-citizens,” she stressed.
Expressing Germany’s cooperation with Israel spanning trade and industry fields as well as security and defence, she added that the annual meetings constitute “an expression of the fact that Israel is the only democracy in the region, and also the many common political issues currently linking Germany and Israel”.
Committing future cooperation with the Jewish State, she concluded: “We want the people of both Israel and German to live and prosper – not just today, but also tomorrow.”