Berlin 25-01-2010
There are some foreign policies that Angela Merkel seems not to like to talk about. One is Afghanistan and the other is the on-going strife between Israelis and Palestinians.
While Merkel seems willing to go against the very strong public will of the German electorate and increase Germany’s troop numbers in Afghanistan, she lacks the courage to oppose the ultra-nationalist, right-wing Israeli Netanyahu government.
Regarding the later – and in something of a first – the present Netanyahu Israeli government was actually ‘welcome’ somewhere outside its own borders recently.
In Berlin the German and Israeli cabinets met jointly for one day last week. Ms. Merkel initiated these special consultations, reserved only for a few countries, including France, Poland and Russia, after her 2008 state visit to Israel, where she was given the rare honour [especially as a German] of addressing the Israeli Parliament.
Successive German governments have found it difficult to criticize Israel because of WWII and the Holocaust – this is commendable and this is as it should be – unless you get an Israeli government who deserves only opprobrium like the present one.
Ms. Merkel’s policy does seem inconsistent – she has met non-governmental organizations that oppose Vladimir Putin, she has criticized China’s human rights policy, receiving the Dalai Lama, in her Berlin Chancellery office in 2007 and she criticized Iran last year for using force against the opposition who claimed that the presidential elections had been fixed.
But regarding Israel Ms. Merkel has remained a bemuzzled mute – she has not addressed the deplorable living conditions of Palestinians in Gaza nor has she condemned the illegal Israeli settlements and its detention policies.
The deafening silence of Ms. Merkel during Israel’s bombing of the Gaza Strip in late 2008, which killed many civilians, was to say the least both grievous and dishonourable.
According to an ‘New York Times’ article on Jan.20th called “Embracing Israel Costs Merkel Clout” – the newspaper makes the somewhat absurd claim that Ms Merkel pro-Israel tendencies are a result of trying to compensate for her earlier up-bringing in Eastern Germany which did not recognize Israel. [?]
Whether this is just so much psychobabble – to create an impression of plausibility through mystification – or whether it is actually true …. Ms Merkel better get over it quickly!
As chancellor of Germany, her position is making it more difficult for the EU to speak with one united voice on the Middle East and will make it impossible for Germany to wield any influence in helping end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
A realist will see that it is just in this precarious time – the true friends of Israel will take a stand for peace and actively oppose the building of any more settlements and even stop selling weapons to Israel unless they change their policy.
It would be courageous move and in-line with the official German position of unequivocal support for the peace process and a two-state solution that would accept both the security of Israel security and Palestinian aspiration of statehood with their capital in East Jerusalem.
Regarding Afghanistan Merkel has called a meeting to discuss Afghanistan strategy and is reportedly considering a troop surge ahead of an international conference in London on Thursday.
The German government wants to consolidate its strategy and therefore Ms. Merkel will hold a meeting with four key ministers later this evening in Berlin.
The ministers are; Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle, Defense Minister zu Guttenberg, Interior Minister de Maiziere, and Development Minister Niebel.
Merkel wants to make her government’s stance on Afghanistan public on Wednesday, following Monday’s ministers meeting and after 2 days of talks with the Afghan President Karzai .
Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle, who will represent Berlin in London conference, while not ruling out a small German troop increase, would prefer to use the present German contingent in “the best way possible”.
