Germany's Steinmeier in Israel for second day of talks

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier met with his Israeli counterpart Reuven Rivlin on Thursday for the second of three days of talks with Israeli leaders.

Steinmeier also met with Rivlin's successor, Isaac Herzog, in Jerusalem on Thursday. Rivlin's term of office will end on July 7.

He also held discussions with new Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Foreign Minister Jair Lapid. Steinmeier also visited the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial.

Steinmeier was scheduled to visit Israel last year but had to postpone the visit due to the coronavirus pandemic. It's his first official visit abroad since the start of the pandemic.

'A strong friendship'

Steinmeier's meeting with Rivlin began with military honors and a wreath-laying ceremony. He started the day by saying goodbye to Rivlin.

"Dear Ruvi, your term in office ends, but our friendship remains," Steinmeier said at the end of an emotional address.

Rivlin smiled and said "thank you" in German before the two embraced.

Rivlin also praised the German president as a close friend and said it was of great symbolic significance that Steinmeier was the last head of state that he would host as president. 

The friendship with Steinmeier was "a proof that relations between people are built on face-to-face meetings," Rivlin said. 

In his speech, Steinmeier also addressed the latest row between Israel and Hamas showed that "the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is by no means calmed." In the long-term, he said, there is no alternative to a two-state solution. 

The conflict saw 248 Palestinians and 12 Israelis killed in May.

Leaders from both nations are also looking to address the changes in government in both Berlin and Jerusalem, as the September federal elections in Germany could also change the country's approach to relations after Chancellor Angela Merkel steps down after 16 years at the helm. However, Steinmeier earlier stated that a governmental change likely won't change much for the relationship between Israel and Germany.

"It is, I think, a friendship that I can say is now independent of terms of office and will outlast the time of our professional commitments," Steinmeier said in March.

New coalition 'willing to compromise' says Steinmeier

Following a meeting with Israel's new Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Foreign Minister Jair Lapid in Jerusalem, Steinmeier said all sides in the recently elected eight-party coalition showed the necessary willingness to compromise.

"Not only that: I could also sense the strong will that this should not be a coalition for a short time, but that one should set up for permanence, for a lasting government," Steinmeier said.

DW's Richard Walker noted that the atmosphere was "jovial" following talks with Israel's new government.

The coalition, which has 61 of the 120 Knesset seats, brings together eight disparate parties from across the political spectrum, ranging from the right-wing nationalist Yamina party, to the Raam party, a small Arab Islamic conservative party.

The unlikely alliance was united in the goal of ousting long-time former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

'Never again,' to Shoah, writes Steinmeier at Yad Vashem

During a solemn visit to Israel's Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial, Steinmeier said the "unspeakable suffering" caused in Germany's name "fills us with pain and shame."

 "We will keep the memory of this alive for the sake of those who were murdered and for the sake of future generations," he said.

"Out of the German responsibility for the Shoah we commit ourselves: Never again!" the German president wrote in a visitors book entry at the end of the visit.

Steinmeier commented that the invitation to deliver a speech at the international Holocaust conference at the Yad Vashem memorial last year was "one of my most difficult and most emotional days in office."

"I could only attend as the German president because the Israeli president was brave enough to invite me," Steinmeier added.

On Thursday, Rivlin made comments on antisemitism, touting Germany's role in fighting prejudice. Germany has been "our strong partner in the uncompromising fight against antisemitism" and has stood with Israel against "the forces of terror who seek to wipe us off the map," he said. 

On arrival in Tel Aviv on Wednesday, Steinmeier started his visit with calls to take action against antisemitism in Germany and other parts of the world.

Also on the agenda were relations with Iran and its nuclear development program.

In an interview with Haaretz, Steinmeier said that Germany and Israel have the same strategic goals regarding Iran, but have different methods of pursuing those goals.

Germany supports a return to the Iran nuclear deal, dubbed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, which was implemented under former US President Barack Obama in 2015 — but Israel has repeatedly criticized the deal.

To round off their meeting, Steinmeier and Rivlin visited the grave of Rivlin's wife Nechama. At the national cemetery on Mount Herzl, Steinmeier also laid a wreath on the grave of Theodor Herzl, the founder of modern Zionism.

kmm,lc/sms (AFP, dpa)