There is a certain irony in the fact that what took place in Zurich last Friday was the outcome of an attempt by those who murdered Israelis in Munich in 1972 to oust Israel from FIFA, President Reuven Rivlin told German Foreign Minister Sr. Frank Walter Steinmeier on Sunday.
The two men previously met in Berlin just over two weeks ago. Rivlin welcomed Steinmeier as “a friends of Israel” and said that Israel appreciates what Steinmeier has done for Israel in the interim.
He was referring to pressures that were being put on Israel by the United Nations and the Palestinians. Israel does not need to be pressured in sport or academically he said, alluding also to BDS.
Israel realizes the importance of rebuilding Gaza, said Rivlin, and was willing to cooperate. Aware that Steinmeier’s next stop during his current visit was to Ramallah, Rivlin asked him to tell Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas that the only way to bring the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians to an end was through direct negotiations.
Steinmeier said that during his previous visits to Israel, discussions had centered on crises here in the region. Now he is facing a crisis in his own region which he is attempting to diffuse.
There is a huge Jewish population in the Eastern Ukraine he said, emphasizing that Germany will continue its efforts to de-escalate the situation there in the hope of paving the way for a political solution.
As bad as things are in Ukraine he continued, the situation in the Middle East is much more complex. “There is a need to come back to talks about a two-state solution.” As for Gaza, Steinmeier said that a way must be found to improve the situation for people in Gaza. Otherwise, he warned, the situation will escalate.
