Ill-fated gamble

Olmert's request to station German troops in Lebanon unwise

Eldad Beck|Published: 11.05.06 , 10:58

Berlin: Prime Minister Ehud Olmert couldn't have thought of a better way to destabilize the fragile relationship built up over the past 40 years between Israel and Germany. He did so by inviting German forces to take part in the UNIFIL peace keeping forces in Lebanon. Only a person blind from birth would have failed to foresee the Greek tragedy we are now witnessing.

Officially, Germany is regarded as Israel's greatest ally in Europe. This claim can be justified on certain levels. Namely, wide scale cooperation between the two countries exists in several areas and the current government, under the auspices of Angela Merkel, has reiterated Germany's commitment towards Israel.

However, among the bulk of the German public, Israel is far from being popular. There is even increasing pressure coming from officials within the various governmental departments to stop giving Israel preferential treatment due to historic obligations.

Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder gave a prime example of this in his recently published memoirs: The man who for seven years led "Israel's best friend" didn't mention the unique relationship with Israel even once.

Four years ago, during one of the toughest periods of the second Intifada, the social-democratic Schroeder thought up the idea of sending German soldiers to serve as a buffer between the Israeli and Palestinian hawks. Schroeder exerted more effort than any of his predecessors in normalizing Germany's status in the international arena. He believed that deployment of German soldiers along Israel's borders would have enabled Germany to finally turn the disturbing page of its history during WWII: The images of German soldiers protecting the Jewish State could have replaced the images of the concentration camp guards.

Frictions in Lebanon

Outraged responses by German Jews and Christians - who understood the problematic connection between German soldiers and the Jewish people, managed to take the initiative off the agenda. At least officially. However, behind closed doors, the emissaries and representatives of the former left-wing government continued looking for ways to dispatch German soldiers to the Holy Land without evoking too much sensitivity.

But then the war in Lebanon broke out, and once again voices in Germany openly spoke of the need to include German troops in the future international peace keeping force set to be stationed in the south of Lebanon. The conservative right-wing camp headed by Chancellor Merkel initially expressed unanimous reservations, which stemmed from the understanding that Germany's history would prevent such an initiative from being implemented. And then Olmert's official request came through asking to dispatch German troops to Lebanon.

The recent frictions between the Israeli Air Force and German troops in Lebanon have been taken lightly in Israel. Germany views them as Israel's unappreciative attitude towards Germany's efforts in the region. The crisis in the fragile relationship between the two countries - that may result from this – can also be added to the list of Olmert's transgressions.