Foreign Minister visits Israel

 

Frank-Walter Steinmeier travelled to the Middle East for talks.

 

There were several objectives behind the Federal Foreign Minister’s three-day trip to Israel and the Palestinian Territories. Two were right at the top of the list. Firstly, Frank-Walter Steinmeier wanted to get an idea of the political situation in Israel following the elections and the formation of the new government. Secondly, he continued to champion the two-state solution. In Israel, he conducted numerous talks to this end, for example, meeting President Reuven Rivlin and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

 

Progress in the Middle East peace process, Steinmeier emphasised, “remains an important key to possible easing of tension in the entire region,” during his visit at the end of May and the beginning of June. Moreover, he insisted that the path to a two-state solution with an independent, democratic Palestinian state that co-existed peacefully with Israel, “must not be eternally long.”

During his trip, the Foreign Minister was awarded an honorary doctorate by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The award was in honour of Steinmeier’s efforts on behalf of German-Israeli understanding, his efforts to combat all forms of anti-Semitism and his commitment to the Middle East peace process.

 

That same evening, Steinmeier hosted a reception in Jerusalem on the occasion of the 50th  anniversary of Israeli-German diplomatic relations. He welcomed countless German and Israeli guests to the so-called Pilgrimage House of the Borromäerin Order. The former hospice is located in the district known as the “German Colony”.