German president feels shame
On his first official visit, German president says his country has a special responsibility towards Israel and promises to "make anti-Semitism disappear"
JERUSALEM - Holocaust remembrance and the struggle against anti-Semitisn is of utter importance, German President Horst Koehler said Tuesday at a reception held in his honor at the presidential residence in Jerusalem.
"I feel very emotional regarding the visit, especially as I am German," he said. "The two countries have a special bond and I want to continue and strengthen our relationship in the same manner as former German president Johannes Rau."
Koehler is in Israel for a three-day official visit to commemorate 40 years of diplomatic ties between the two countries.
A special kind of responsibility
Koehler, together with his Israeli counterpart President
Moshe Katzav, visited the Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum.
"The visit to Yad Vashem conjures up feelings of shame, pain, and sadness, because the holocaust has become the primary component in the history of the two nations," he said. "We feel a sense of special responsibility toward Israel."
He said he has promised President Katsav that Germany would do all it can to fight anti-Semitism and right-winged violence and "to make it disappear".
Koehler is scheduled to meet with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom Wednesday.
He is also set to speak in the Knesset. His decision to present his speech in his mother-tongue has sparked an emotional outcry among Knesset members, lead by Health Minister Danny Naveh.
Naveh said he believes this would offend Holocaust survivors.
"Hearing the language of Nazi soldiers conjures up images of them scurrying the Jews into gas chambers," wrote Naveh to Koehler, in a final attempt to encourage the German president to reconsider his decision.
