Germany and Israel are united by common values, however, Berlin is concerned about the judicial reform being prepared in Israel. The Chancellor of Germany Olaf Scholz said on Thursday, March 16, at a joint press conference after meeting with the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
According to Scholz, “as democratic value partners and close friends of Israel, we are following the ongoing discussions with great attention and – I will not hide it – with great concern.”
In turn, Netanyahu assured that Israel will remain a liberal democracy even after the planned judicial reform. According to him, “democracy in Israel is strong and alive, we will not step back a centimeter from it.” The Israeli prime minister categorically rejected all claims that the government headed by him intends to allegedly destroy democracy, calling them “absurd” and “absurd.”
Memory of the Holocaust
On the same day, Scholz and Netanyahu visited the “Gleis 17” memorial near Berlin’s Grunewald railway station, commemorating the beginning of the deportation of Jews to death camps during the National Socialist era more than 80 years ago. Politicians talked about the close relationship between Germany and Israel and about the responsibility that Germany does not cease to bear for catastrophe of European Jews in the 20th century.
Germany’s permanent commitment is to oppose any form of anti-Semitism, Chancellor Scholz stressed at a joint press conference. According to him, the security of Israel is a matter of national importance for Germany.
Controversial judicial reform in Israel
Judicial reform is one of the key projects of the new far-right government of Israel, which came to power at the end of 2022. After the reform was announced in early January, the country began and has continued since then. mass protests.
Netanyahu and his coalition allies argue that judicial reform is meant to restore balance between the different branches of government in Israel. Critics are sure that it will violate the rule of law. Netanyahu’s opponents, in addition, believe that the prime minister, who returned to power after a year and a half in opposition, wants to get away from corruption prosecution.
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