Holocaust Reparations

"If the Israeli government wants to talk formally to the German government, we will not refuse to hold talks of this nature," Government spokesman Thomas Steg on Wednesday, Nov. 14, said in response to comments made by Israeli Pensions Minister Rafi Eitan to an Israeli newspaper last week.

"There has been a continuous policy over the past decades that all German governments have always been prepared to hold negotiations," said Steg, adding that there had as yet been no formal approach from Israel on the matter. "In Israel there is now a situation, a phenomenon of immigration of Jews from Russia and the former Soviet republics to Israel that was not foreseeable in the discussions in the 1950s and 1960s. It remains to be seen whether this should lead to new negotiations."

Eitan said Israel wanted to reopen the 1952 Luxembourg Agreement with Germany granting reparations for Holocaust survivors in remarks published last Friday.

Russian Jews increase the strain on the state

The pensions minister said the deal failed to take into account the longevity of the survivors or the arrival of the 175,000 who emigrated from the former Soviet Union.

Subsequently his spokeswoman, Elle Baror, said the minister did not wish to reopen the agreement, but rather wanted teams from Israel and Germany to meet in order to discuss ways of finding money to cover expenses which were not taken into account when the original deals were signed.

A spokesman for German Interior Minister Wolfgang Schäuble said talks on the issue were not on the agenda when Schäuble visits Israel on Thursday and Friday.

Holocaust survivors' associations welcome German news

News of Germany's willingness to address the topic of increased reparations should Israel make approaches was welcomed by the head of an association which oversees Holocaust survivors' organizations in Israel.

"We are very happy with Berlin's attitude, which shows continued German concern for the fate of victims of the Nazi regime," Noah Flug, himself a Holocaust survivor, told reporters.

Flug added that he would meet Germany's Finance Minister Peer Steinbrück during his visit to Israel next week.

"I welcome the chance to be able to explain to the German minister the demographic changes that have taken place in recent years," he said. "The health of survivors continues to worsen because most of them are over 80."

The most useful aspect on any reparation revision would be if Germany were to pay towards the increased expenses of Holocaust survivors, Flug said.

Critics say Israel can support its own

The media in Israel has been critical of the expected move to ask Germany to provide additional money. Many commentators say modern Israel has the financial clout to take care of the ageing Jewish survivors of the Nazis without asking Germany for extra help.

Germany has so far paid a total of 65 billion euros ($95 billion), or about 800 euros per German national, according to Flug.