Israel Moves Cautiously in Response to Neo-nazi Violence in Germany

Israelis are caught in a dilemma as they watch in dismay the spread of neo-Nazi violence in Germany.

Mindful of the close economic and security ties that bind the two countries, Israelis have restrained the impulse to register their abhorrence by taking strong measures against Germany.

The country’s unanimity in the face of the current wave of racism and anti- Semitism in Germany and elsewhere was expressed Monday by Foreign Minister Shimon Peres, at the opening of a special parliamentary debate on the issue.

“If there were a Jewish state at the time, the Holocaust itself might not have happened, or might have been far smaller in magnitude,” he said.

He spoke a day after the government “strongly condemned” the outbreak of neo- Nazi violence in Germany and urged Bonn to crack down on the perpetrators more firmly than it has so far. But Israel rejected calls from both right and left to take strong action against Bonn.

Moshe Katsav, chairman of the opposition Likud faction in the Knesset, asked Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin to sever diplomatic ties with Germany if it does not act quickly to curb the neo-Nazis.

From the opposite political corner, Education Minister Shulamit Aloni of Meretz said she would call on Israelis and Jews worldwide to boycott Germany if does not take steps to stanch the violence.

While the government spurned those options, a three-member parliamentary delegation canceled a scheduled official visit to the Bundestag.

Israel’s measured response reflected links between the two countries that were highlighted in the visits here last month of German Foreign Minister Klaus Kinkel and the German chief of staff, Gen. Klaus Naumann.

Germany is Israel’s most important trading partner after the United States and is one of the few countries in Europe that buys a substantial amount of advanced technological equipment from Israel, including military or militarily- oriented equipment.

Moreover, visitors from Germany registered a 200 percent increase in the first eight months of this year — to 118,000 — compared with the same period last year, and comprise a major component of Israel’s important tourist industry.

At the same time, a large number of philanthropic organizations in Germany are linked with economic and cultural projects in Israel.

In the security field, Germany is in the forefront of countries with defense links to Israel, according to security sources.

Israel’s dependence on Germany appeared to render moot, at least for now, calls by both coalition and opposition spokesmen over the weekend for a dramatic gesture of protest against Bonn’s failure to take stronger action against neo- Nazi violence.

In Bonn, the government declined Sunday to comment on the statement by the Israeli government, which was widely reported in the German media. But Cabinet members privately approved the decision by Jerusalem to refrain from calling for a worldwide Jewish boycott of Germany.

Leading members of the Bundestag, in private conversation, expressed understanding for the decision of three Israeli Knesset members to suspend an official visit to Bonn. But they said that had the Israelis visited, the Germans would have tried to make clear to them that every effort was being made to curb neo-Nazi violence.

The German ambassador to Israel, Otto von der Gablentz, listened to the Knesset debate on Monday from the distinguished visitors gallery.

He heard Likud member Dov Shilansky declare: “There is no “new Germany.” It is the same Germany — the Germany of Majdanek, of Auschwitz, of Buchenwald and of Bergen-Belsen.”

The German envoy said he knew Shilansky was himself a Holocaust survivor. He was pleased, he said, that this view was not that of the majority of Israelis.

Meanwhile, President Chaim Herzog has approached several heads of state and other prominent personalities in Europe to propose a joint call against racism and anti-Semitism.

Informed sources said Herzog would seek the cooperation of German President Richard von Weizsacker in his appeal.

In a speech Monday night, at a dinner for Prince Hans-Adam II of Lichtenstein, Herzog said the Jewish people were watching “with growing concern” as “ugly and all too familiar incidents were occurring with increasing frequency in Europe.”

“We hope that wisdom and tolerance will prevail ultimately, Herzog said. “The alternative is too horrible to contemplate, and we must do everything possible to prevent it.”

In Russia and Ukraine, meanwhile, reports reaching Jerusalem speak of paramilitary units forming among ultra-rightist circles, in which virulent anti-Semitic propaganda is an integral part of their training program.

These reports also describe cooperation between the rightist-nationalist groups in Russia and the Palestinians.

Anti-Semitic manifestations are on the rise in the three Baltic republics too, according to informed sources here, with the right there blaming the Jews in its propaganda for the deteriorating economic situation.

(Contributing to this report were JTA correspondents David Landau in Jerusalem and David Kantor in Bonn.)