Prime Minister Levi Eshkol declared today that, while Germany’s “past cannot be forgotten, ” relations between Israel and West Germany must be based on the fact that “reality cannot be disregarded.” Mr. Eshkol discussed relations with Germany in an interview in the new magazine, Ot, issued by the Mapai-Achdut Avodah alignment.
Noting that “there are sentiments and there is logic, ” Mr. Eshkol stated: “Twenty years have passed since the war, and a new generation has sprung up in Germany, a generation not responsible for what happened under the Nazis.” He criticized “those who refuse to accept this fact. “
He lauded the manner in which West Germany has paid its reparations to Israel and the fact that many Germans “accepted this as symbolic atonement for the Nazi crimes. ” “There is no contradiction, ” he continued, “between remembrance and diplomatic relations. I have always favored diplomatic relations with Germany which enable mutual recognition and enlargement of relations to other useful contacts.”
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