Seventy years ago, on 14 May 1948, the State of Israel was founded.
„We feel at home in Germany, but we also have a spiritual and, in part, family and personal connection to Israel. Seventy years! For us as Jewish Germans this is an occasion for joy, but also for clear criticism of parts of the German media“, says Elio Adler, chairman of the WerteInitiative – jüdisch-deutsche Positionen.
„We follow the country from afar and in doing so experience the way the State of Israel is perceived by the German public. We also know the country and the outlook on life of the people in Israel. The discrepancy we experience between the perception in the German media and the facts on the ground is often barely bearable – – above all when it comes to political reporting. Anyone who knows Israeli society, its pluralism and its positivity repeatedly encounters one-dimensional, tendentious reporting which negatively influences how Israel is perceived and how opinion about it is formed. All too often, legitimate Israeli security interests are grotesquely distorted or even turned into their opposite.“
The recent reporting on Israel’s military response to the Iranian troops stationed in Syria is one example of this. All too often Israel is portrayed as the supposed aggressor. When the core of the arguments is laid bare, massive resentment against the state itself regularly comes to light.
We welcome the „special relationship“ between Israel and Germany, emphasised by the great majority of politicians and borne by broad sections of society. It is given substance in a wide variety of fields and connects the two countries on many levels. School exchanges, tourism, business, security, research and culture are good examples. This relationship has its origin in a historical responsibility; we hope, however, that it will increasingly be sustained, and thereby brought to life, by values recognised as shared and by common interests.
In this connection we would draw attention to the Israel Festival of the Deutsch-Israelische Gesellschaft (German-Israeli Society), which takes place in Berlin from 25 to 27 May 2018 and offers a richly varied, impressive programme celebrating Israel’s birthday: www.70-jahre-israel.digev.de.
The WerteInitiative sends its warmest congratulations and Mazal tov!
