Newly appointed German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at his Jerusalem office today, during which the German top diplomat underlined solidarity with Israel, as central to German foreign policy. Minister Maas reiterated previous statements he made ahead of his meeting with Netanyahu, in which he emphasized that “responsibility for and solidarity with the Jewish and democratic state of Israel, standing up for its security and against anti-Semitism – that is at the center of (Berlin’s) Foreign policy.”
The first stop of the German Foreign Minister was at Israel’s Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial Museum, where he emphasized the importance of keeping the memory alive. “We must keep the memory. Germany is responsible for the most cruel crimes in human history. For us, the Holocaust is both a warning sign and a commitment: To work around the world for human rights and for tolerance. We should object to anti-Semitism and racism and to act against it every day, everywhere,” German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said.