2-state solution weighs on elusive Israel-Germany ties

 A bilateral government meeting between German and the Israel scheduled for May this year has been canceled by the Germans.

While the official reason given was German preoccupation with being current president of the G20 and upcoming elections in the country, the cancellation could be an indicator of relations beginning to go sour.

A few days ago, when German Chancellor Angela Merkel met with Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, she reiterated German support for the two-state solution.

For years, both Germany and Israel have defined their relations as close.

The countries enjoy widespread economic cooperation, share intelligence and in the past years there are intensified societal relations between the two with Berlin being a top destination for Israeli tourists.

Germany has also supplied Israel with submarines seen as critical to maintaining Israel's naval superiority in the Middle East.

Israel has found itself increasingly isolated in the international arena due to it's policies towards the Palestinians. This sentiment is shared by Merkel.

According to Emmanuel Nahshon, the spokesman for the Israeli Foreign Ministry, while there are disagreements, there is no cause for concern.

"The relations are very stable and are based on such strong foundations that criticism cannot undermine them," he says.

In Merkel's press conference with Abbas it was clear there was concern for the future of the two-state solution.

US President Donald Trump has said he is open to other solutions, a major worry for the Palestinian leadership who believe that the two-state solution is the only way to solve the conflict.

Standing next to Abbas Friday Merkel said she saw no other "reasonable alternative."

There have been speculations in Israeli media that the summit was canceled due to tensions between Israel and Germany.

As disagreements have been mounting in recent years, the election of US President Donald Trump has perhaps exacerbated the tension.

Trump is expected to be more lenient towards Israel, although not giving the country a free hand as Netanyahu may have expected.

Prof. Dr. Thomas Risse, an expert on German foreign policy from the Freie Universitat of Berlin, explains the connection.

"Trump has been rather silent recently, but he has indicated that his administration is no longer bound by the two-state solution. If this trend continues, we will face a most serious situation in the Middle East," said Dr. Risse.

The first meeting between Trump and Merkel in the White House held earlier this month was a tense one. The two differ on many issues, with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict being only one of them.

At the beginning of the year, after the Israeli parliament approved a bill legalizing settlements in the West Bank, the German response was harsh.

"The confidence we had in the Israeli government's commitment to the two-state solution has been profoundly shaken," read a statement from the German Foreign Office.

In the past year, Merkel has been increasingly publicly critical of Israel's settlement policy led by Netanyahu. But according to Risse, the discord is not personal.

"This is a policy disagreement, nothing personal. The current Israeli government is moving away from the two-state solution in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and continuing the settlement policy. Germany sticks to the two-state solution which is also the European consensus," Risse told Xinhua.

In the past, the Holocaust has been a major factor in the relations between the two countries. It served as a founding block of the alliance.

Germany has seen it as it's obligation to maintain a good relationship with the Jewish state as a result of it's past.

But as the years go by and new generations learn of the Holocaust from history books and not from personal experience, it is difficult to maintain that special obligation especially when policy differences between the two countries arise.

In order to conserve this relationship, Israel will have to tread carefully so as not to lose a strategic ally.

 
source: Xinhua